There is this old man that sits in the park every day, and just takes it all in. He doesn’t watch anything in particular just the big picture of what is going on around him. He watches the birds, trees, nature, and all the people that pass him every single day!
One day he was sitting on his bench and this man walks up to him and says “Excuse me sir, I am new to the city, but I was just curious if you can tell me about the people in this city”. The old man simply replies “tell me what the people are like from your city”. The man says to him “they are the most hateful, mean, and rude people you will ever meet”. The old man replies by simply telling him “You will find those people here”, and then the man walks away kind of frustrated.
About an hour later the old man is still sitting on his bench taking it in, when all of a sudden, a lady comes up to him and says the same thing to him…. “Excuse me sir, I am new to the city, but I was just curious if you can tell me about the people in this city”. Once again, the old man replies “tell me what the people are like from your city”. The lady says to him “the are the nicest, most caring, and genuine people you will ever meet”. The old man just smiles and replies to her by say “You will find those people here”.
The moral of the story is that you will find whatever you are looking for in life. Our perspective in life is something that sounds so simple and easy to control but sometimes we let our environment control what we find.
I was brought up believing that everything happens for a reason and life can always be worse. Sometimes we will never get that reason or it may take time till it presents itself but as long as we control our perspective and continue to operate off our values, principles, and standards we will be able to attract the things we want in life.
I know in this profession there will always be moments where we are challenged to have negative thoughts and beliefs because of the things that happen around us. This isn’t just because of the profession but the world we live in at this time, its not always pretty and roses, and I think we all understand that.
I believe as a professional, employee, staff, athlete, and more importantly family, we need to know what is important to us. We all live in reality and never fool yourself of that but I also believe in keeping an optimistic view on life! There is so much hate and negative things out there in this world but I just want to remind everyone, that for every hateful and negative belief there is a positive one to follow. It is up to us as humans to decided what we want to attract and find in life.
I encourage everyone out there to write down what values, principles, and standards are important to you. When you do this start on the individual level, you, then move to your family, and finally the work environment. Once you do this then the next thing to do is uphold your end of the bargain and operate off these things!!
I do and will continue to challenge you to not let your environment dictate what you will be and how you will operate, but more importantly, FIGHT BACK! You control your thoughts and actions, and a lot of that will come from your overall perspective on life!
Nick Savage
Director of Strength and Conditioning
University of Florida