Today I want to talk about heart. When I was in high school, I was on the football team. Notice I did not say I was a football player because I really wasn't but I was on the team. Now we had a coach named coach S. He coached the defense when I was in school and he was meaner than a junkyard dog. Now I don't know if he is the first person I ever heard say this but I can see him saying it in my mind. I can see him saying, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
Before I get into this, I am NOT advocating dog fighting and that is NOT the point of that saying. What it means is that sometimes you don't look at what a person looks like on the outside, you look at their insides. Many times a football team can win a game against a better team just because they wanted to win more than the other team. Because their hearts are consumed with winning and it grows to such large proportions inside, it comes out and they can win.
Not that many years ago, I was running 5K and 10K races and I was placing very well in my age group. I even won a couple of times. Now I am only 5' 7" tall and have short legs. I was running against guys who had longer legs and had more of a runner's body. Why could I beat them - heart. I was determined that no one was going to work harder than me. I wanted to be the best runner that I could be. Interestingly enough, I never felt like I was in competition with anyone but myself. I didn't see a guy who I thought was in my age group and try to out run him. I just tried to do my personal best every race. That attitude helped me to do very well.
So why am I writing this today? Because I have seen several people who have given up on their dreams and their goals. While I was on a recent trip to Seattle, I watched some kids playing hide and go seek in a park. This one kid was taller and had longer legs that most of the other kids playing. There were even some really young kids that he certainly could have out ran and tagged before they got to base but he convinced himself that he could not catch anyone and the first round, he didn't. Why? Heart.
He didn't have the heart to run. Is it really necessary to have a lot of heart and win one for the Gypper while playing hide and go seek? Of course not. At the end of the day, who won or lost at hide and go seek is totally irrelevant. But let's look at a couple of other scenarios that are a little different.
Many of you know that I am a lawyer by training although I don't practice. It was the last semester of my final year of law school and my brother told me, "Don't quit. You are almost there." At that point, I was in the top part of my class and doing great. Quitting had never entered my mind. But what if it had? Where would I be if I didn't have the heart to finish? I wouldn't have a degree. Some of you may be considering dropping out of high school. DON'T QUIT. You can make it. Some of you may be considering quitting something else like a job or a relationship or something else. DON'T QUIT. You can see this through. Remember this - Tough times don't last. Tough people do.
So I will leave this where I started. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. You may be going through something bigger than you. Remember that the you on the inside is much bigger that the you on the outside especially if God is on the inside you are bigger than the problem you face.
I've done it again. I blogged myself happy. That's another Opinion of the Minion.
Before I get into this, I am NOT advocating dog fighting and that is NOT the point of that saying. What it means is that sometimes you don't look at what a person looks like on the outside, you look at their insides. Many times a football team can win a game against a better team just because they wanted to win more than the other team. Because their hearts are consumed with winning and it grows to such large proportions inside, it comes out and they can win.
Not that many years ago, I was running 5K and 10K races and I was placing very well in my age group. I even won a couple of times. Now I am only 5' 7" tall and have short legs. I was running against guys who had longer legs and had more of a runner's body. Why could I beat them - heart. I was determined that no one was going to work harder than me. I wanted to be the best runner that I could be. Interestingly enough, I never felt like I was in competition with anyone but myself. I didn't see a guy who I thought was in my age group and try to out run him. I just tried to do my personal best every race. That attitude helped me to do very well.
So why am I writing this today? Because I have seen several people who have given up on their dreams and their goals. While I was on a recent trip to Seattle, I watched some kids playing hide and go seek in a park. This one kid was taller and had longer legs that most of the other kids playing. There were even some really young kids that he certainly could have out ran and tagged before they got to base but he convinced himself that he could not catch anyone and the first round, he didn't. Why? Heart.
He didn't have the heart to run. Is it really necessary to have a lot of heart and win one for the Gypper while playing hide and go seek? Of course not. At the end of the day, who won or lost at hide and go seek is totally irrelevant. But let's look at a couple of other scenarios that are a little different.
Many of you know that I am a lawyer by training although I don't practice. It was the last semester of my final year of law school and my brother told me, "Don't quit. You are almost there." At that point, I was in the top part of my class and doing great. Quitting had never entered my mind. But what if it had? Where would I be if I didn't have the heart to finish? I wouldn't have a degree. Some of you may be considering dropping out of high school. DON'T QUIT. You can make it. Some of you may be considering quitting something else like a job or a relationship or something else. DON'T QUIT. You can see this through. Remember this - Tough times don't last. Tough people do.
So I will leave this where I started. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. You may be going through something bigger than you. Remember that the you on the inside is much bigger that the you on the outside especially if God is on the inside you are bigger than the problem you face.
I've done it again. I blogged myself happy. That's another Opinion of the Minion.
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