Don’t Take Things For Granted
“Respect the things you must hang on to. Don’t take them for granted” -Coach Thomas and Coach Kerns
Taking things, or people, for granted can be very costly and is very destructive to the person or thing that is taken for granted. Essentially, taking something for granted is to assume it will always be there or to use, accept, or treat it in a careless or indifferent manner. An easy example would be one’s job. If you treat it indifferently or carelessly, and then it disappears for one reason or another, that careless indifference (taking it for granted) has led to the loss of something that should have been held on to.
Respect involves admiration on the deepest level. Care, concern, esteem, and deferential regard are shown for those things and people we respect. Treating someone or something with respect is the polar opposite of taking them for granted.
We lose what we take for granted. We retain all the benefits of those things we respect. Here Coach Thomas and Coach Kerns draw on this principle and apply it in an athletic context. They communicate that those things that you must have and keep to achieve high levels of performance must be taken care of and held in high regard. Taking one’s conditioning, one’s technique, one’s position for granted can result in the loss of more than just that one thing. Respecting the traits you must maintain will result in reaping the benefits those traits have to offer.
The life lessons here are many. The quote relates to every aspect of our lives. When things fall apart at work, in relationships, in our lives, it is often a result of a lack of respect for those things we must hang on to. I am particularly drawn to the application of the quote in the context of our relationships. We lose or fail to show respect most often to those who are closest to us…our spouses, our children, our friends, and our work colleagues. We tend to take for granted that those people and the relationships they bring will always be there and we treat them carelessly and indifferently. Then we wonder why we do not reap the benefits of those relationships more fully in our lives.
Today, this moment, the challenge presented is to determine what must be held on to. We must hang on to our relationship with our children, we must hang on to our relationship with our spouse, and we must hang on to our relationships with our friends. What can I do to respect those people and relationships, to care for and admire those closest to me? Who am I taking for granted and how do I correct that course? Don’t let time go by waiting for action from someone else, but instead, take the initiative and begin to respect what you have taken for granted. Retain the benefits of what is most important to you and don’t be in a position where you didn’t know what you had until it was gone.
Do the Things You are Capable of Doing
“Why do you refuse to do the things you are capable of doing?” -Coach Thomas and Coach Kerns
As I prepared to write regarding this thought, I was intensely convicted. I have heard this before. Coach Kerns and Coach Thomas posed this question to me and others have as well. I am not sure I had an answer then, or now. How would you answer this question?
My first thought is that we have a distorted view of what we are capable of. I think that if you talk to people who learned under Coach Thomas and Coach Kerns there would be a universal theme – “he saw more in me than I knew or ever thought was there.” They pushed us past our expectations and self imposed limitations to a level that was higher than we thought we could achieve. It was an amazing testament to genuine care and concern for individuals and a genuine desire to improve the lives, not just the skills, of those who played for them.
Ultimately, the statement is an indictment of one’s efforts. It is meant to push you to see yourself as they saw you – an untapped source of potential. It is a challenge to tap in to the potential that we have buried for one reason or another. Most importantly, it is a challenge to remove the internal or external barriers to achieving all that you can.
So, why do you refuse to the do the things you are capable of doing? Do you have excuses or justifications? Yes, everyone does. Do you exert the effort required to achieve what you are capable of? Do you limit yourself by failures of the past, or do you strive for the potential in the future?
I have no advice because the question is intensely personal. I am challenged by the query and will search alongside you to break through and reach my own potential. I am reminded that Coach Thomas and Coach Kerns saw more in me than I ever thought possible. Who, in your life today, sees more in you, desires more from you, and would dare to ask this question to you? And, what restrains you from seeking to achieve what they believe you are capable of? We are challenged today to move beyond our limitations and move towards the potential we all have locked away inside of us. Don’t refuse to seek your potential, don’t be content with where you are, push forward and embrace the challenge of doing what you are capable of doing.
