A friend shared this tweet w me & obviously the “Life is beautifully crazy” part captured my attn. But…I love this tweet for many other reasons.
Sports fan or not, the background is worth hearing, for the great message contained within. First, I had no idea who Russ Abner was (the “tweeter”). Thanks to google: he’s the assistant b-ball coach at a small NAIA school in Kentucky: Asbury University. Candidly never heard of them either. So why did this particular tweet of his strike such a chord w so many ppl reacting to it?
The coach he refers to in the tweet is Brad Stevens, currently the head coach of one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, the Boston Celtics. They’re 1 win away from making it to the Eastern Conference Finals in the NBA Playoffs, & he’s leading a team w some major stars out due to injury.
Rewind 10 yrs, & he was an assistant coach for the Butler Bulldogs (a Division I school, but far from a sports powerhouse). Wanting to be a head coach, he interviewed for the head spot at a Division III school & was turned down on the exact same day that Butler promoted him to be their head coach. Imagine the roller coaster of low to high all in one day!!
He took the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA Tournament Finals, eventually parlaying his college success into a spot on the sidelines heading up the Celtics. Most great college coaches have failed in the NBA. Very diff type of gig dealing w amateurs vs pros. Stevens, however, has been the exception to the rule.
So, aside from this tweet “repurposing” the word crazy, it’s great for many reasons. We don’t ever know where life’s gonna take us. Imagine he had gotten that D IIII spot & taken it. Where might he be now? “Losses” & “Rejection” can just be arrows telling us where we need to go & what we need to do. I’d never compare the pain of MH complications w the situational stuff of losing out on a gig, but the lesson is – take the downside as it comes & realize how much sweeter the upside is gonna be WHEN you get there. The perspective is a game changer & the chip on your shoulder is a great motivator.
#SameHere #perspective #celtics #nba #coach #bradstevens #chip #underdog #motivation