Hey everyone, sorry that the Sunday Reflections are on a Monday but I got caught up in some things last night and that prevented me from writing them. So, here they are now. First…
Music to listen to: Natural Science by Rush
This came up on my Pandora this morning and you know that I always go war for Rush so enjoy.
The past week has been interesting for me in several ways and I’ll probably get to all of them through my timeline of it.
First, I found out on Thursday that my time at my current job will end in mid-May. Its disappointing because I like working at that place and have made some good connections but that’s the world of sports business and you have to accept it.
It’s never enjoyable to lose your job, whether it was for something you did or the company. There are some things that I could have done better and that goes both ways but this post isn’t about that. Its about me reflecting on the action and taking action upon it.
The initial reaction was frustration for the reasons stated above but if you stay angry about the situation, that’s not productive for anybody, especially yourself.
The next thing was about the business of Marcel, Inc. (you like how I did that?). Losing your job is incredibly taxing on your finances, especially when I was struggling financially before my release. So, you look at what your income is, your expenses and figure out a way to hold on until the next job comes along. I’m at that stage right now.
Notice how the reflection of what went right and wrong hasn’t taken place yet. All of my writers out there will be able to relate to this. Its like when you write a long form paper and immediately edit it for errors. You are entranced in the work so you miss the mistakes that you made. You write the paper, take your eyes off of it for a few hours and then review it. That’s why if a paper was due on a Friday, I would finish it by Wednesday night and then review it on Thursday night or write it Thursday night and review it Friday morning, that distance of time is very important.
I know what my positive attributes are as an employee and where improvements can be made but in relation to this current job, I’ll have to take some time before that happens. However, sitting around doesn’t pay the bills or advance your career so we keep it moving.
Most of that stuff happened on Thursday night into Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, I went to the Strikeforce: Nashville event weigh-in. For those of you unfamiliar with that, Strikeforce is a mixed martial arts organization that was holding a fighting event at Bridgestone Arena here in town on Saturday night. The day before the event, competitors are weighed to make sure that they fit the proper criteria to fight in the weight class.
This weigh-in took place outside of the Bridgestone Arena and it made a gloomy past 24 hours lighten up. I’ll get into the particulars of Friday afternoon and even Saturday night in my MMA Review post later but being in that environment reminded me that this current job isn’t the end of the line for me.
I will be the president or commissioner of a major sports organization in my lifetime, its destined to happen, it has to happen and it will happen. Whenever I’m at a sporting event, whether its an MMA event, a baseball contest, a tennis match, etc. I always look at the organization of it and analyze what steps I would take to enhance, improve, edit, change.
Outside of spending time with my friends and family or dominating my young nephew in video games, this is the most enjoyment I have in my life, viewing live sporting events, the preparations behind them and seeing the execution.
I saw the weigh-ins and that made me excited and the fights on Saturday were entertaining as well. It was the first time that I saw an MMA event of that magnitude and it has inspired me to not give up on my goals.
And that’s what this is all about in the end. We all have setbacks in our life, personal, professional, physical and they stink. However, its how we recover from these that tests your character and ultimately makes you who you are.
When I reach my goal, it will be even better knowing the struggles that I had to go through to reach it.
Furthermore, its also about prospective. I went shopping in Kroger yesterday afternoon and I saw a gentleman that put all of this in its proper place.
He was someone who has been stricken with a sickness, probably cancer. He has no hair, was wearing a surgeon mask and wearing batting gloves that you would use for baseball. Furthermore, he had a thin frame, which as those of you know who have unfortunately dealt with disease, know that he was not doing well health-wise.
I wanted to tell him to stay strong and that he was in my prayers but I didn’t want to approach him, scare him or possibly make him even more sick. I kept my distance and saw him shopping just like the rest of us in the store, not intimidated by his physical limitations.
It showed me that despite all of the stuff that I’m going through in my life, I have so many positives and am truly blessed to be where I am today. If that gentleman in the store can strive forward with his life, I have NOTHING to complain about.
I’ll find another job, learn from my missteps and emerge as a stronger individual from this. It has to happen, it must happen, it will happen.
Plus this will finally give me the chance to go walk the mountains like I keep saying I will do.
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