Knocked Down

Life has been flying bye this year at an incredible clip and couldn't be more blessed to be experiencing all the positivity in life. I would never say that negative thoughts, temptations, experiences or energy don't enter our families life we just choose to focus on what we can and turn everything into a positive.

There are times in life (sometimes daily) when you feel that life is knocking you down. One second your riding that wave on cloud nine and then the next your wondering why me. Life is meant to be a roller coaster of emotions. Life should never be easy or else you would get to comfortable and not challenge yourself to be better than you are. I am here to tell you that there is an easy way out each time you get knocked down. All you have to do is stand back up, dust your knees off and attack the situation with all your energy and desire to succeed.

This past weekend I had the absolute honor/privilege of not only watching my daughter play in a soccer tournament but her whole team. As much as I love to see her succeed I love to see the team succeed just as much. This team has bonded extremely well and no matter who gets knocked down they are always there to pick each other up. At 10 years old their life maturity is beyond the win or loss column. They understand with every once of there body that if one person or the whole team gets knocked down the only way to recover and push towards the path to success is to get up and move. Don't rest on negative emotions or worry about what happened but learn and move on to the next play. While they lost with PK's in the championship games I believe each of these girls came our a champion with their level of teamwork, play and ability to play every play with 100 emotional and physical intelligence.

I understand that sometimes the circumstance surrounding you getting knocked down can be an extremely difficult one. There will be times when you feel your in over your head. These are the times though when we can grow the most as an individual. These are the times when success is the only option. These are the times when we reach for our teammates, family members, co-workers or spouses and build upon that foundation we have in place. There is nothing sweeter than rising from the bottom and climbing the mountain and seeing how far you have come. I wouldn't be the dad, friend, athlete, husband and professional I am today if I didn't constantly push myself away from a point of contention, failure, rock bottom or feeling of hopelessness.

So next time you get knocked down instead of getting mad, frustrated, wanting to get even or feeling helpless stop for a second stand up and think what can I do from this second on to make the next second in my life better. What can I do immediately to take the higher road.

One thing I do every morning is called a 5 minute journal. I take 5 minutes total in the morning and the evening to write the following:

Morning

1. Name three things I am grateful for

2. What are three things that will make today great

3. Daily affirmation...

Evening

1. Name three great things that happened today

I have noticed by doing this exercise almost everyday that I am constantly reminding myself that life is a journey and I will always have things in my life that I am grateful for no matter the circumstances.

Make It Count!!!!