Tonight, I am sitting here thinking about everything that has happened in the last month, and let me just say...it has been a crazy busy month! Our family got to have C home for holiday block leave for 14 days (which definitely is NOT enough time), we celebrated Christmas and New Years surrounded by family, friends and loved ones. There was lots of laughter, love, and there were even some tears as it got closer to time for our soldier to head back to Alaska. K started her last semester of high school (which I am definitely NOT ready for), we have been on three college visits, and she has made a decision as to where she will start the next chapter in her life in the fall. I have watched J work, doing what he loves, and I have watched him make some tough "grown up" decisions. I could not be more PROUD of my three kids...they are definitely my biggest accomplishment! In the middle of all of the happy times, I have also watched friends and loved ones struggle with heart ache and loss. I have watched as they have laid their loved ones to rest and said goodbye. I have watched a person who has become very dear to me, handle extremely tough times with dignity and grace, and I could not be more proud of the person they are.
Tonight, I was sitting at JH's house watching football and we started talking about Vince Lombardi and his speech "What It Takes to be Number One." I knew bits and pieces of it, but had never sat and listened to the entire speech. So... he read it to me:
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.
Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.
Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.
It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.
And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.
I don't say these things because I believe in the ‘brute' nature of men or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour -- his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear -- is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
- Coach Vincent T. Lombardi
As I was sitting there listening - I started thinking, "this speech is applicable to almost everything in life." It applies to my job every day...I show up each morning, do my job to the best of my ability, and help entrepreneurs succeed. It applies to my walk as a Christian...you must give your heart to Jesus and with every fiber of your being live to honor and worship Him. It applies to C's life as a soldier...you must be smart and use your brain on a mission, but you also must have heart and discipline!
So...as I have sitting here thinking about everything that this speech means - I think this will be my goal moving forward into 2018...enjoy the grind, be disciplined, always use your head and your heart, never settle for second place, and ALWAYS strive to do your best! Yes...Vince Lombardi was a very smart man!
