I was speaking to a friend today and her and I were very puzzled. What we can't figure out is what is wrong with today's youth. You see she was a past participant in the olympics chile basketball team and has been in sports her whole life. She has always preformed on a high level in everything she does. I am the same way. No, I did not make the chile basketball team(actually I suck at basketball) but I am a runner and everything I do I do with a purpose and at 150%.
Here is the problem as I see it. Our youth don't know what it takes to get them to be number one and successful in whatever endeavor they choose. It does not have to be in sports. It could be in a vocation and anything else. Our youth is lazy and there is only us to blame.
In the age of the computer, we have made our lives too comfortable and too many things at our finger tips. If the computer doesn't give us the answer in a nano second or our food (let's not even go there) isn't ready in less than 3 minutes we get pissed off and think something is wrong. We are teaching our youth to find the easy way out. I had someone ask me the other day what was the least amount they could do and still achieve their fitness goals. I looked at them and walk away. I did not want to say what I wanted to because they would have been very upset at my answer. But now that I am writing this... Let me tell you that if you try and get thru life doing as little as possible ... you will amount to NOTHING. You will live for a brief time... Get pissed off at the world because you will feel as though you are or were mistreated... and then die, and no one will know that you existed.
People want America to be nubmer one in everything. Well guys, I hate to tell you this but we are number one in very few catagories one of which I will is OBESITY. Shall I say any more? Are you proud of this? You may ask yourself where this obesity comes from. Well it comes from our laz-a-fair attitude about life and working to strive for something higher than average.
I had a conversation with my wife the other day about our children and the fact that I hold the bar very high in their lives. I expect them to do the very best in everything they do. My son, when he enterd the 7th grade, came home with his first report card. It was 7 A's and 1 B+. I looked at him and asked if this was the best he could do. Did he try his very best. He said "yes" to me so I accepted that and told him that this is where his bar is now. He placed it there and since then he has maintained it very well. All three of my kids are doing well and are very respected in the public eye because of it.
My wife has always lived by the notion that you try your very best but if you only get average grades it is OK. Of course if you read the first part of this you would know that I don't think that way. The problem with America today is that we think that average is OK. This is why we are failing in the field of medicine (there are more indian doctors than American ones. Just go to the hospitals and look at who is there). We are failing in sports (let's not mention what happened in the last olypmics or on the soccer field).
Guys, we need to step up to the plate and begin to take life serious again and start striving for excellence. Hold our kids to a higher standard and dont' accept excuses any more and then ond day our kids will see there success and catch the fire.
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