John Wooden

The most quotable, inspirational coach I have ever heard of, and my personal role model, is former UCLA men's basketball coach John Wooden.

Here's a list of his accomplishments:
-Won SEVEN national championships IN A ROW
- Named national coach of the year six times
- First person to be in the basketball Hall of Fame as BOTH a player and coach
- Won a total of ten national championships in a span of 12 years
...I could go on. You get the picture.

And yet, he once said that the one thing that made him different from most coaches is that he never talked about winning.

He emphasized character.
Integrity. Hard work.
Preparation. Attention to detail.
Always doing your best.
Selflessness. Teamwork.
Effort.

In a world where wins are celebrated and some people think that if you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough to win, Wooden went against the grain. And the byproduct of his life lessons and his coaching was a successful career. But winning wasn't his goal.

That is TOUGH for me to wrap my head around, especially as a coach whose success is measured by wins and losses.

Our society is so focused on the product. In teaching, it's test scores. In coaching, it's wins and losses. In your job, I'm sure it's some statistic or number or something. And I'm not saying those things are inherently negative.

But what about the journey? The process of learning? The struggles, overcoming obstacles, elation when new material is mastered? What about doing what's right and being honest? Why isn't that emphasized?

I try to follow Wooden's philosophy, but I slip into "winning" mode so often. I can't be perfect.
But I can keep learning, keep working, and keep changing, as a coach, teacher, wife, friend, and person.

Because, in the words of my favorite coach, "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

One last thing: watch this Ted Talk video. It's amazing. http://www.ted.com/talks/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_winning_and_success.html

Good stuff from a wise, godly man.

Living Like Yoga Pants

Break was awesome, friends! I stayed up until 3 a.m. watching America's Next Top Model and Nashville on HuluPlus (best Christmas present ever from the husband). I slept in until ten, ate breakfast, worked out (when I felt like it), studied for the GRE, read books, cooked food from scratch (and froze a bunch of it). I felt like I could LIVE again.
And live I did. Specifically, in my yoga pants.

I was against yoga pants for a long time. They're too tight. Everybody's wearing them. They're only cool if they're from Victoria's Secret, and those pairs cost, like, too much for me.

But then I caved, and I'm oh so glad I did.
Yoga pants are comfy.
They don't make me feel like I have "fat days."
They tuck nicely into boots.
They trick people into thinking I've just worked out, so long as I'm simultaneously wearing sneakers and a sweatshirt.

I literally LIVED in my yoga pants over break.
I wore them for four days straight, washed them, then wore them again.

 Basically, I want my life to by like my yoga pants.
They're flexible and can conform to whatever I throw at them.
They're comfortable. They're versatile. They're relaxing.
They don't put any pressure on me to look cute or overwork myself. They let me breathe, deeply and often.

Not only do I want to live IN these suckers...I want to live LIKE them in 2013. I don't want to be everything and do everything; that phase of my life is over. I cannot coach every team, take every class, be in every club/committee. It's not possible, it's not healthy, and it's not fulfilling. There's a fine line between being DRIVEN (which I am) and DRIVING yourself crazy.