No Guts, No Glory....

Sometimes I write for therapy and self encouragement so bare with me folks....

Last night, I watched the definition version of "no guts, no glory" displayed right before me on my over-sized television. And, I had to take a minute to refelct on myself and my guts. Although I was a mere underestimated cheerleader with a short skirt, a tennis player, softball player and a gymnast - not a rough and tough basketball player or football player - I learned a thing or two about guts and what my father liked to call "character." Yes - "character" - that is what he said he was building in me when I just wanted to quit, or give up or give in when the going got tough. Well, when the going got tough, he taught me that's when the tough get going. I thought he was just being a scary Dad but I'm so thankful for that lesson.

I watched last night as Candace Parker, arguably one of the best Women's College Basketball players to ever step foot on the court in my opinion, score 18 points in the first half of the Elite Eight game against Texas A&M and then her shoulder popped out of socket - not once, but twice. Now, this is when the gut is checked - so to speak. She could have easily taken a seat on the bench for the remainder of the game but she didn't - she had the guts and wanted the glory - for her and her fellow LadyVols. My friends - this girl has what my dad always talked about - character. She fought and was back in the game and helped them win to make it to the Final Four for the upteethmillionth time in UT history. She had the guts for the glory.

In reflection, her performance last night could also ring true in everyday life. You can either take the punch and sit down - or take the punch and roll with it. Life is about rolling with the punches. As I have learned in the past few years by personal experiences and alongside friends - sometimes co-workers aren't as pleasant as you would like them to be, relationships don't always work out like you have created in your head, the money you make may be less than you think you deserve and less than what it costs to pay the student loans, your parents my not be married in a Leave It To Beaver sort of manner, you may not be the best or the coolest but you are who you are. You have the choice on how you handle the punches. The little set backs - like Candace's hurt shoulder last night - could either bench you or prove you had the guts and the attitude to make the best out of the situation. No, Candace didn't score 20 points in the second half but the fact that she was participating in the second half speaks volumes.

No Guts, No Glory. God gives you the guts, allows the tests - but it's our chioce to fight for the Glory. Roll with the punches. Laugh at yourself and your mistakes or troubles. What goes down, must come up.

"The Lord direts the stops of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Thought they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." Psalms 37:23-24