#whatdoyourepresent | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mubal4 · 3 years ago

Photo

The Journal Journey Part 71

Realized it has been three weeks since a visit to the old journal. That’s longer than normal for these last few months. This entry is from back on April 22, 2017, and the nuggets are from Inky Johnson. Inky played college football at the University of Tennessee but his football career was cut short because of a devastating injury. You can find out more about him and his story here: https://www.inkyjohnson.com/

As I reflect on the date of this entry, it is hard to believe that was almost 4 years ago that I came across Inky Johnson’s videos and speeches on YouTube. I’ve said it often and I believe there is a particular reason we are placed here. We are provided with treasures that are to be shared with the world and some of us go through this journey not realizing it. As I think back to Inky’s story, I have to say, at some point in his journey, he likely believed his treasure was to bless us with his football abilities in the NFL and he was on that path. When you hear him talk, he is now incredibly grateful that his journey took another direction and now he blesses us with his wisdom and guidance. Wonderfully crazy how this whole thing, life, takes us on our travels.

Let’s take a trip.

“Work for something greater than yourself.” – Be of service to others. There is an affirmation I read every day, by Andy Andrews, “seek wisdom, be a servant to others.” There is not too many greater feelings than when we help others go beyond what they feel was possible for themselves. Truly gratifying. It doesn’t have to be that grandiose, but that is perspective there. For example, simply opening a door for something, throwing a smile at a stranger as you pass by, or buying that next person in line a cup of coffee, just because you felt like. I guess it can be argued if we are “being of service” to that person. But – are we working to be someone “greater than ourselves?” There is another wonderful quote, I believe by Jim Rohn, “if you help enough people get what they want, you in turn, get what you want.” I like to change that around a bit and state that, “if you help enough people become who they are meant to be, you in turn, become who you were meant to be.” Lots of quotes here but it all leads to us having the chance, having that path, to become greater versions of ourselves.

“Continue to do the things you committed to do long after the feeling has left.” – Honor your commitments!! Something we try to stay true to each day, no matter how big or how small. No matter how much we realize that what we committed to isn’t what we though……and now it isn’t ideal 😊. That happened with Alaina, our youngest this past weekend. She was asked to help out and participate in three soccer games over the weekend, filling in for a travel team that was in town playing a tournament. I think Sunday morning, after having to get up at the crack of dawn, for her 2nd game of the weekend, she was rethinking that decision. After that game, and we discussed this, the experience wasn’t living up to the expectations in her mind. We were headed home and would turn around in a few hours to go back to the field (two hours roundtrip) to play in the final came Sunday afternoon. She wasn’t feeling the energy of experience, but she was getting a lot of work and playing full games for the first time since high school soccer season started. We sat silent for several minutes driving home, prior to her taking a nap, and without being prompted says, “I said I would fill in for them and I am going to fulfill that commitment.” Even though “the feeling had left” she did what she said she would do. Yeah – I was proud and shared that with her. Then she took a 45-minute nap until we got home 😊.

“Don’t be a public success and a private failure.” What is the level of effort we are putting in when no one is looking? It is great to give your all when eyes are on you but what about when the arena is silent, and you are all alone? Another question is do you need “the public” to get you going? What I mean is do you have that desire inside you to put in the work or do you need someone (the public) to inspire you? I don’t believe there is a wrong answer there but another question (a lot this section huh?), what happens when that someone isn’t there one day – are you still putting in the work, in the “dark” when no one is watching?

“Never forget what you represent!” – I am sorry to say that, over the years, this concept was lost on me. Check that – I don’t think I even knew what I represented. For many years of my life, maybe in some way, there was an idea of what I wanted to represent, but that wasn’t true. It is like some of what I opened with, we can go most of our life, maybe all, not really coming to grips with what we are truly meant to do. We can miss the boat on what we are supposed to represent. I still say I got incredibly fortunate in meeting my wife Robin and even more so in being blessed with our daughters Isabella and Alaina. It hasn’t been pretty but throughout the last 20 years I am finally understanding what it is I am supposed to represent. What I am supposed to be doing and why I am supposed to be doing it………. each day – better husband, better father, better human being!

“Stress isn’t about what you have to do it is about what and how you think about what you have to do.” – And this usually happens prior to us even taking that first step on a journey. We want to be someone or experience something and we come to an understanding that for that to happen, we may have to do these ten different things. We look at “all of them on paper,” and then can be very intimidating, even overwhelming. The stress sets in and the anxiety builds and then we fear taking that first step and “having to go through all the hard stuff.” Perception! In most cases, at least from what I’ve learned, yes, from the start, we may have to tackle those 10 things, but maybe we won’t. When we get started, we create momentum, we learn and become wiser – a better version of ourselves. As we continue that path those 10 things may dwindle down to 7 because after knocking the first 3 off the list, we realize we don’t have to do those other 3. That process continues – we become stronger, smarter, more creative, and agile. I’ve shared this metaphor on here and maybe in the podcast; used it with our daughters and others too. It is like climbing a mountain. Standing at the base, looking up, can be very intimidating and overwhelming. We fearfully and skeptically take the first step. As we continue, confidence builds and we get a bit more comfortable………..then we get punched in the mouth; our first steep climb. We press on and our quads hurt, knees buckle a bit, and things get hard, but we make that climb. We keep moving forward and are getting stronger and now, we find a quicker trail through a certain section that switchbacks up another climb removing some of the more challenging sections. This process continues and yes, there isn’t a straight shot to the top. There are always different ways to navigate a mountain, and, in some cases, certain parts can be completed avoided. Even when they are not, we always come out different than we did when we took that first step.

#journaljourney takethatfirststep keepmovingforward whatdoyourepresent

0 notes