Circumstances Beyond Our Control

Recently my son, 18 yrs old was injured again while playing lacrosse. This is the fourth injury in four years! The first was the last week of the season he received a concussion which took him out of school for a few days. The second was the first game of his sophomore year when he received a concussion so sever he was out of school for 24 days and took months to fully recover.  The third was during preseason when he tore his ACL. He is a senior now and decided to take the field one more season with his friends and teammates. Traditionally he had always been a long pole defense man but in order to protect his knee he hopped into the goal. He was having a fantastic season and with just two weeks left in the season he was knocked from behind upon coming out of goal and has now injured his “good” knee. We won’t know until the MRI results are back whether he will require surgery or not; my hope is obviously no surgery and just plenty of physical therapy. Keeping my fingers crossed.  The fortune cookie quoted below ironically was his last night which is why I dedicated this to him.

When you learn to be flexible, amazing opportunities reveal themselves! ~Fortune Cookie

The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. ~ Martha Washington

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.  ~ Horace 

Stop blaming outside circumstances for your inside chaos. ~ Steve Maraboli  

Expect the best, prepare for the worst. ~ Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.  ~ Arthur Golden 

We should be inspired by people… who show that human beings can be kind, brave, generous, beautiful, strong-even in the most difficult circumstances.  ~ Rachel Corrie 

To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.  ~ Confucius 

Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.  ~ William Arthur Ward 

Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control. ~ Richard Kline 

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man… It is more powerful than external circumstances.  ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

There is no education like adversity.  ~ Benjamin Disraeli 

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. ~ Maya Angelou

Making an awesome save!

Update on May 19, 2012 – He tore the ACL and does need surgery on the 23rd.

What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger? ~ Friedrich Neitzche 

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Live and Learn

Riding on the Beach

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. ~ Michael Jordan

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. ~ Aristotle

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. ~Goethe

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~ Gandhi

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Strengths and weaknesses

Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points. – Knute Rockne

When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you. – Lao Tzu

A really self-restrained person grows every day from strength and from peace to more peace. The very first step in self-restraint is the restraint of thoughts. – Gandhi

It never ceases to amaze me; we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own. – Marcus Aurelius

Do we not realize that self respect comes with self reliance? – Abdul Kalam

Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men. – Seneca

Our strength grows out of our weaknesses. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. – Abraham Lincoln

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination… – Maya Angelou

There is nothing so strong as gentleness, and nothing so gentle as strength. – Leo Muir