If I asked you to choose just three words to guide the next year of your life what would they be? Not your goals…not your resolutions…not your job title. Just three simple ideas that you hope define the person you’re becoming.
This week, I had the privilege of spending four evenings with an incredible group of young athletes at EMpact Athletics Academy. Yes, we worked on speed. We worked on agility. We worked on athletic skills. But every night, before we left the gym, we gathered together at midcourt, not to talk about who was the fastest, who jumped the highest, or who won.
Instead, we talked about something much bigger. We talked about the kind of people we wanted to become.
Each night had a theme.
Confidence.
Effort.
Teamwork.
Growth.
As the week went on, I asked each camper to tell me what those words meant to them. The answers weren’t complicated, in fact, they were beautifully simple.
One camper wanted confidence to mean, “Use my manners.”
Another said, “Be a friend.”
One wanted to “Pray every day.”
Another promised to “Stay focused.”
Some wanted to “Work hard every day.”
Others wanted to “Be helpful.”
“Pay attention.”
“Be cheerful.”
“Have good sportsmanship.”
“Be accountable.”
There wasn’t a single answer about winning. Not one about scoring points. Not one about making an all-star team. Just kids choosing the kind of people they wanted to be.
On our last night together, I surprised them. I took all of the words they had given me throughout the week and gave them back.
We called it their EMpact Pledge.
It wasn’t something I wrote, it was something they had already written themselves and I just helped them hear it.
As I stood there listening to those words one more time, something unexpected happened.
I started thinking about my own pledge.
Mine looked a little different. Get good sleep. Stay prepared. Be accountable. Show up no matter what. Know when to lead. Know when to follow.
And it hit me…
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Those words aren’t just for kids. They’re for all of us.
The funny thing about growing older is we sometimes convince ourselves we’ve graduated from lessons like confidence, effort, teamwork, and growth. As if those are things you master somewhere around middle school. But life has a funny way of reminding us otherwise.
Confidence looks different at forty than it did at ten. Sometimes confidence means having the courage to start over. Sometimes it means speaking up. Sometimes it simply means believing you’re capable of whatever tomorrow asks of you.
Effort changes too. It may no longer be running wind sprints. It might be showing up for your family after a long day at work. It might be choosing kindness when you’re tired. It might be doing the right thing when nobody’s watching.
Teamwork doesn’t end when the season does. It follows us into marriages. Friendships. Churches. Workplaces. Communities. Knowing when to lead. Knowing when to follow. Knowing when someone else needs us to carry a little more of the load.
And growth…
Well…
Growth never really graduates.
I thought I spent this week helping kids prepare for a new school year. What I didn’t realize until the final night was that they were reminding me how to prepare for tomorrow.
Sometimes the greatest lessons aren’t the ones we teach.
They’re the ones we hear coming back to us.
Sometimes all we need is someone to give us back our own words.
And that’s how the ball really bounces.
Read more from How the Ball Bounces with Bekka in the archives at www.mysaline.com/bounces.
About the author: Bekka Wilkerson is a lifelong lover of all things sports. Raised in a super athletic household it was no surprise when she too began to love sports at a young age. It seems like from the time she could walk she had a softball bat in her hands, but her true athletic passion came from all things Basketball. That love served her well as a Bryant High School Lady Hornet and ultimately earned her a full scholarship to play at the University of Central Arkansas – among many other adventures.
These days Bekka can be found running around Saline County with her husband, Speedy, or chasing one of her grandsons. She is also the Executive Director of The EMpact One Foundation, a Saline County Nonprofit Organization that helps young people stay connected to extracurricular activities through tuition assistance and equipment provisions.
Reach out to Bekka with questions and/or ideas about things you want to see in this column at [email protected] and learn more about The EMpact One Foundation at www.empactone.org.
