Over the holiday week, I watched a movie that my neighborhood friends would call a "Rachel McAdams chick-flick" entitled About Time. I liked the ambiguity of this title very much. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am a huge movie lover, and I can get sucked into anything with good writing. Even though I am comfortable embracing both my masculinity and those things somewhat less masculine (like a Nicholas Sparks movie), this film had very good writing, and it kept me engaged and entertained. It also made me think and reflect while motivating me to be a better me. That's never a bad thing.
With 2016 ending in a very tumultuous way and a completely unpredictable 2017 ahead of us, I thought this would be a great time to talk about what I learned from the lessons of this movie and more specifically how we can enable our time and emotions to be on parallel planes if we simply get out of our own way.
The plot of the film was centered around a father who sits his seemingly awkward and insignificant son down on his 18th birthday and shares with him that he is in the long line of males in the family who have the power to maneuver through and manipulate time. It is from this shocking realization that the Director takes us through the next 10 years or so of this young man's life in a series of funny and sad life events lived and then relived with the knowledge of failure in the first attempt. The son uses most of these re-boots to alter his own embarrassments while trying to create an opportunity for the love and companionship he craves. After many years of utilizing this power to much success (but not over the top like winning the lottery every Saturday), the father gives his son a piece of advice and a challenge for his new powers.
He tells his son to pick a day in the near future that has not gone well in any shape or form. The father asks him to go back in time to the start of that particular day and relive it. This time, however, deal with the good, the bad, and the terrible with joy in his heart and a conscientious attempt to see the good in every situation.
As the movie shows, the son's first trip through this particular day left him depressed and beaten down. After reliving the day again, we see a young man proud of what he accomplished in the face of adversity and stress and burden. He took a full day of rotten experiences and made them the smallest and most insignificant part of that day instead of the center-piece of that day's journey.
What can we all take from this? How can we bring this to our practices and classrooms and dinner tables and bedrooms? Our lives are short. Our joys can sometimes be few and far between. It should be our goal to make those joys our "major things" while doing our best to keep the "minor things"...well...minor. Find the good in every situation. Don't let the bad stay bad. Even though we can't go back in time to fix our wrongs, we have the power to own those results instead of letting them own us.
I wish you all a very great 2017. Live with conviction. Enjoy every second with those you love and those things you love to do. I hope you all embrace your passion this year and turn it into your guiding light!
Coach Matt Rogers
Twitter: @madcoachdiary
Email: coachrogers12@gmail.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/
Blog: madcoachdiary.blogspot.com
Phone: (312) 610-6045
Twitter: @madcoachdiary
Email: coachrogers12@gmail.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/
Blog: madcoachdiary.blogspot.com
Phone: (312) 610-6045
Matt Rogers is a 20-year high school and college coach veteran. He has led two teams to the NCAA National Tournament and one team to High School State Championship. His teams hold numerous school and one NCAA record. He has mentored and coached players at every level while serving as an athletics administrator at the high school and NCAA levels. He has helped numerous players continue their careers at the professional level. He currently is the Head National Scout/Recruiting Specialist for NCSA - Next College Student Athlete where he has helped thousands of young men and women from around the world achieve their dreams of playing at the college level. Coach presently lives in the Denver, CO area with his wife of 19 years and his two children.
To request Coach Rogers to speak at your school or event, you can reach him through any of his contact information above.
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