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Life Lessons From Fishing With My Dad

Growing up my dad and brothers loved to go fishing. We would gather up a bunch of worms, get a few cans of corn, load up a bunch of fishing poles and go to a creek, a pond, the beach or anywhere we could wet a hook. We did it for sport and rarely ever had to keep anything we caught, we used the proper equipment to be able to catch and release. Just as many of my friends hunted with their dads, we instead choose to fish. We fished in the fall and spring mostly when the weather was good and it wasn't so hot or cold. One main life lesson I learned from my good old dad was patience. I remember going to a pond and my dad would bait his hook, cast the line in and just sit and wait. Sometimes for hours until something bit the line, took off and bent that pole. He might reel it in on occasion to check the bait and make sure it was still good since the little "bait stealers" which are small fish that just nip at the bait until it falls off would eventually leave you with an

Dead Roses- Its The Thought That Counts

This past Valentines Day I was still recovering from Covid and not being able to drive around town very much due to a lack of energy, cold weather affecting my breathing and not wanting my wife to see what I was trying to do I used an online flower service to get her some (what I thought would be very nice roses). I also ordered a card and some candy and man I was pumped. I was excited that I had gotten her a nice thoughtful gift and she would be so happy with it. Well lets just say that sometimes the best laid plans fall apart for one reason or another. I knew the delivery was arriving on 2/13 and was expecting a delivery person to knock on the door and hand her the gift. She would be excited, cry and all that mushy stuff and I would hit a homerun. Team Hubby 1, Team Wife 0. Well unfortunately the flowers arrived in a box, had no water and were almost completely dead. The candy sucked but the card was nice and had my special message on it. Lets just say the dead roses didn'

What's In Your Bookbag- Emotional Baggage

Today I am writing about your bookbag, your purse, your wallet, your gym bag of whatever it is you carry around with you day to day.  This bag is filled with all the stuff you need for the day to function like a phone charger, some snacks, bottle of water, clothes, laptop and all the other things we carry daily to live our best life.  But, this is not the baggage I am talking about.  I am talking about the baggage we carry that cannot be seen, it is not physical or a solid thing.  It is emotional and is the result of hurt, pain, bad relationships, physical abuse, mental abuse and anger.  As a teacher I worry more about the baggage my students bring to school and how I can look for signs to get them help.   Adults also have baggage and plenty of it.  I see grown people in their 30's, 40's 50's and older carrying around baggage from emotional scars that always seem to surface when things get tough.  They have not dealt with it and have tucked it away inside deep and it is a r

Physical, Mental and Spiritual Impact of Tragic Events

Today I am writing a brief post about one of the hardest times in my life.  I was coaching at a local high school and halfway through the season our head coach and my good friend passed away suddenly and unexpected.  This was a huge loss for his family, students, athletes and the community as a whole.  I am going to go into all the details of what happened, but instead will talk about the loss of a dear friend and coach and how the coaching staff and team responded to that loss.  Losing important people in out lives is never easy and brings a rush of emotion that we deal with for sometimes months or even years.  I was the offensive coordinator at the time so when my friend passed I was asked to continue the season as the interim head coach.  I remember the conversation with the principal when he asked me to take things and finish the season.   I gladly took the responsibility not because it was a chance to take the program over.  It was the right thing to do in honor of my friend, play

Life Skills Needed As An Adult

Playing some form of organized sports is like a right of passage for many of us.  I grew up in a large family where every boy played football.  All of my brothers, and boy cousins played football at some point in their life.  Most of my girl cousins played basketball and softball in school, but they also played football on Sunday afternoons at my Grandma's house.  These games were brutal with heavy hitting, tackling, blocking and running.  We all got cuts, bumps, bruises, stitches and a few broken bones at some point in our childhood and teenage life.  Through these injuries and tough hits, we learned things about life that later propelled us to become productive adults, parents and friends. Learning life skills is an important part of the process of growing up and as a coach and teacher one of main focus points is to teach my kids the valuable life skills that can help them lead a good life.  A life that allows them to work, live, play and do what they want to do.  A life that is

Setting Smart Goals To Win In LIfe

Today we are talking about how being a goal driven person can help you become very successful in life, work and play.  The poster above tells us that we must set goals and work hard to accomplish them.  As a coach, teacher, husband, father and mentor setting goals for the team, family and my own life have always been an integral part of the process.  I cannot imagine tackling any task without a plan, end goals and dreams.  Every season I coach the team and I sit down and we talk about everyone's individual goals, team goals and how we accomplish them.  Everyone has different goals in life based on their age, living situation, finances and career goals.   When setting goals you must start with short term attainable goals that steadily clip off time to reach the end long term goal.  I teach financial math to my 11th grade students and we cover goals at the very beginning of the class.  If they do not know where they are and where they want to go then I am teaching them to fail later