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.