Respect

RESPECT: a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. 

This is a very important word in my life.  I conduct myself to be a person who is deserving of this description.  I cannot say that everyone shares my morals on this characteristic.  Its a tough world out there and at the end of the day, would you rather have the respect of others or be known as a shady SOB?  Well, for many the latter is the choice made and regardless of whose eyes they lose their respect in, they continue to be sketchy people.   

As you all know the world I spend most of my time in is with my family.  My kids, their children, their sports, their school, their lives.  I would like to think that I have earned respect within that area of my life, with their teachers, coaches, spouses, etc.  I hold myself up to be honest, forthright, strong, protective, fearless.  I do not achieve anything in this life by being dishonest, shady, sneaky, weak or cowardly and I have raised my children the same way.  Anything in this life, you have to fight for.  This isnt a free ride.  At the end of the day, people will have the memories of what type of person you were...they will not have your trophies, your awards, the notches on your belt...they will have what type of person you were, whether it be an upstanding person whom they respected or a snake who couldn’t be trusted further than someone could throw them. 

The extra part of my life, again as you might know, is softball.  I breathe the sport, love it to a fault.  My husband and I have coached for numerous years and pride ourselves on being honest, trustworthy people within the tightnit community of fastpitch.  We fight the sometimes lonely fight of being a team that also tries to teach our players life lessons, while learning the game.  We do not cheat, we do not bend the rules as far as they can go before snapping, we do not try to get away with things we know are wrong, we don’t teach our players to play dirty/hurtful.  We teach them to respect the game, respect the opposing team, respect the officials and respect themselves.  By doing that, they are respecting us.  We work with the players that want to work with us.  We will not give up on a player who has the heart to keep working.  Loyalty.  Although I believe that we are respected as coaches, it still surprises me the actions of other coaches that deem them disrespectful in my eyes.  They will smile to your face and when you walk away, drive a knife in your back.  I guess I am guilty a little bit as I will be civil to these people, yet I know what to say and how much I cannot trust them or how much I do not respect them as coaches or people. I guess that’s part of being an adult, I make sure that I lead a respectful life and that those that I surround myself buy into the same philosophy, all the while reminding myself and others, that this world is full of shady snakes and you either walk the other way or when approached or threatened by them, you do what you can to survive their venom...off with their heads! 

that’s my rant!