GOOD TEAMMATE? BE ONE FOR THE TEAM

Either you are a good teammate, you’ve been a good teammate, or get out of here.

That’s me in the dark Oregon hat in back.

We’re on the breach in Seaside after Hood to Coast.

It felt more like a deathbed after a short illness.

But I’m not complaining, didn’t complain then, don’t complain now, but . . .

My running buddy had hounded me for years to join his Hood To Coast team.

I dodged it for years, until I ran out of excuses and told him I’d go, but only run one leg.

The closer it got to race day, the more I wondered about doing more than one leg.

In the end I ran three legs, including the last stretch on the beach.

The team included four dads and a bunch of kids and their friends all my kids’ age.

All of them had been on one of my soccer, basketball, or indoor soccer teams.

Peer pressure from kids got me on the team, got me to run three legs of the relay, and got me to the finish line.

Just look at them. Their deviousness is apparent, but the old coach pulled through.

 

One For The Team

If you’re pushed to join a group activity, and can’t find a way to avoid it, bring some gusto.

You don’t need to bring all of your gusto, your babe-magnet-beer-hat-at-the-Portland-Brewfest level of gusto, just show some enthusiasm.

There’s a saying, possibly an old saying since I remember it from days of youth, that goes, ‘If you’re going to do something, do it well.’

There’s nothing about getting compulsive, driven, or meticulous. Just ‘do it well.’

Be competent.

If you are a reserved, socially shy kind of guy, and you are invited to tag along to an activity with a group, be outgoing.

The group was headed to downtown Portland for the big beer festival alongside the Willamette River on Waterfront Park.

 

Them: We’re going for a few hours. It’s fun.

Me: I remember feeling like a Beatle down there.

Them: A Beatle? Were you the ‘cute one?’

Me: My hat was the cute one.

Them: The hat?

Me: The beer hat.

Them: How long ago was that?

Me: Doesn’t matter. The hat is the hat and it never loses it’s power.

Them: You think you and the hat will be swarmed at the brewfest. Good one.

Me: You’re probably right.

 

A good teammate doesn’t bristle or react, but follows the game plan and maintains their composure.

 

Take An Unpopular Stand

When things take a swing away from the usual norms, when it looks more off-road, don’t get lost.

Take a stand for what you believe in, what you believe based on your life experience, not what someone tells you to believe.

If that seems at odds with you, let me tell you a few things:

A man named Mark Kelly is making news for taking part in a video reminder that military service people are bound to their oath of service to America, the Constitution, Mom, Baseball, and Apple Pie.

Every veteran has taken the oath like a marriage ceremony.

 

“Do you accept this oath of service to defend the constitution of the United States of America?”

“I do.”

 

Some veterans let it rip on behalf of Kelly.

“You will never, ever, ever even be half the man that Sen. Kelly is,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a former Marine, addressed Hegseth during an appearance on CNN’s “The Arena with Kasie Hunt.”

“You, sir, are a coward! And the fact that you are following this order from the president shows how big of a coward you are.”

Follow Your Personal Oath

If your life works, keep it up.

For most of us that means relying on what’s come before, the culture of how things get done, along with the history of success.

Where do people learn this? Family, school, work, relationships, connections, the usual.

Some of us live lives of quiet desperation, some speak up, most a combination of both.

We say things and nothing happens, as usual; we do things and nothing changes, as usual.

As far as we know nothing comes of anything, but that’s not how it works.

Life moves on no matter how anyone feels or thinks.

The world stops? No, it just feels that way to you.

No one pays you any attention? No, you just don’t notice.

A good teammate notices your world and pays attention.

 

Find Time

 

PS: Moment by moment we have the choice to ignore, or embrace. A moment of beauty passes by every second, like these two.

They won’t see it, but here it is.

 

PSS: Keep a sharp eye out for those moments and lean on them. Don’t worry, times like these are strong.