Rise

 Easter Sunday is perhaps the most motivational holiday there is, for me as a Christian anyway. I don't go into promoting my personal beliefs or agenda on this blog, but I will say that conceptually, the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead after suffering and going through what he did, is enough to motivate anyone, even if you aren't a believer.

 So, through my own prayer and reflection yesterday, I kept coming back to a simple theme, rise.

 What better time than now to rise? Rise up, raise your bar, raise your status, rise to the occasion. Sometimes, we don't struggle to find this motivation, but we struggle in applying it to our situations. It's time to rise above that as well.

 Believe it or not, sometimes we hold ourselves down. Our loyalty, attitude, work ethic, choices, or ideas can be our enemies as easy as they can be our allies. I've said it before, my loyalty has been one of my biggest weaknesses in recent years. I've dedicated a lot of energy and work to get to plateaus that were blocked for me. Sometimes, our mentality to "stick with it" and keep trying to get over the hump can actually be a bad thing. Being loyal to someone or something that doesn't treat you right, respect you, promote you, or help you can be wasteful. It's not your fault, but at some point you have to realize that there is more to it, and you have to rise. Sure, there are decision makers and people in authority that play roles in your situation that you cannot control, but where you devote your time and energy is almost entirely on you.

 I say, wake up tomorrow and decide that it's time to rise. You can never be content with where you are on the spectrum. Once you grow content, you are done. Champions that grow content get upset, kings that got content lost their empires, companies that get content lose money to competitors. It's ok not to be happy with where you are, I'm right there with you. But we have to focus on what we are doing to rise, not on how unhappy we are, or how frustrated we are. We have to stop saying we will do it tomorrow. This is a season of new beginnings, a season of growing, so what better time to do it.

 Let's face it, our days are numbered. It's sad but true. One of the motivating factors that I leaned on as a player was the simple idea that every time I walked off the court it could be my very last time, so I better make it count. Walking off the court unsatisfied with a workout or performance is acceptable, you should never feel that way, but if you approach every time out as if it was the very last time, you get more out of yourself. I tell this to my players everyday. The fact that one day we might not be so lucky to do be able to do the things we love is reason enough to rise that extra bit more.

 Here it is, another important minute, in an important hour, on an important day that will impact the rest of your life. I say, choose to rise. Aim for higher goals, and don't let things you can control get in your way. Don't put it off, and don't waste that time moving at the same level too long. This week, I will rise. Will you? Because I know that if I don't, someone else will. That's enough for me.

 Live to rise, in your own reality.