Thankfulness – Part II

Commentary

Last week we discussed Reframing. It only makes sense for us to talk about being thankful again. Can we agree that being negative and complaining comes very easy? It takes absolutely no effort to complain or be ungrateful. Our goal with every athlete and organization we work with is to train them to be resilient and autonomous. Since these successful traits don’t come easy, we have to train and educate each other.

Every year at this time, I think about all my friends still in baseball at the professional levels. I think about what it could have been like if I just continued playing. I find myself complaining about the weather in the NW this time of year instead of Arizona. I find myself complaining about how complicated life is running a business, being a husband, and a father of three. BASEBALL life was simple. Now I get no time on my own anymore and on top of that I am not in baseball shape anymore!

However, as I write this I find myself convinced:

That I have been given an incredible gift and responsibility to work with 100’s of families every week.
That I have been able to go to every event my kids have (Baseball life you can’t).
That I found immediate purpose after a transition from MLB baseball, which by the way, is one of the hardest transitions athletes go through.

I find myself thinking this instead:

At least I don’t have to pack up all my stuff for another 8 months on the road.
At least my kids get to go to school and don’t have to uproot.
At least I get to coach my son’s baseball team this year! Wouldn’t get to do that if I played.

I feel like when I played it was all about me! I now feel like I get to serve others every single day.

Practicing this process is called Downward Counterfactual – seeing how your situation could be worse and how it can actually be positive when looking at it this way. It’s not easy, but now I find myself feeling excited about today! …Excited to be doing exactly what I am doing right now!

Dream Big,