Almost there

There’s this thing I do when I’m driving. Before I explain, I should probably clarify that I have no sense of direction. North, South, East, West, yeah I have no idea what you’re talking about when you say this. Names of roads and highways? Yeah, it doesn’t register. I need landmarks.

Is it by the B-Bops?

Do I turn at the water tower?

Is this the place by where my friend Erin used to live in high school?

Back when I was learning to drive, in the nineties, my dad used to reach back and pull the Atlas from the pocket behind the passenger seat, throw it in my lap and tell me to navigate. “You need to know how to read these, Erica!” He would say to me with more disappointment than hope tinged in his voice.

Little did Dad know that a thing called GPS and Google Maps would enter the chat, and well, do they even sell Atlases anymore?!

I digress, back to this thing I do while I’m driving.

I drive as though I know where I’m going.

It’s to places I’ve been before, but don’t go regularly.

For example, just the other day I took my mom’s pup to the groomer. I’ve been there before. I left my house with the anxious pup in the front seat and meandered onto the groomers. As I turned onto the road I was sure it was on, I panicked.

Did I pass it?

Should I have turned right or left?

Is it the other building on the other side of town I’ve taken this dog to before…?

So here is what I do. I take out my phone. I plug in the address. And you know what it always says?

“Go past this light and destination is on your right.”

I am right there. I am on the right path. I am so close. And I don’t trust myself.

After some brief self shaming and apologizing out loud to my dad that I should’ve studied that Atlas better, I started to wonder if this is all a metaphor for my actual life?

How often do I do this? How often am I planning, and working, and chugging away and then at the last minute I stop? The answer is too often. Ugh, way too often I give into self-doubt. I make an abrupt stop to redirect.

I see this in athletes I coach too.

They are right there. They’ve done the reps. Done the hard workouts. Made right choice after right choice. And then boom. A hurdle. Adversity. Something shiny comes across their screen. And they stop trusting themselves.

Friends, listen, we are almost there!

Whether you use a paper map or a wifi one, faith still matters.

There is a compass deep inside you. Guiding you. Pumping you with dreams and hope. Trust it.

What is waiting for you is right there. It is right there! Just ahead.

Do not stop.

Do not get distracted.

Keep.On.Going!

It’s right behind the B-Bops. I feel it for you!

#playyou

Coach D

Thanks for reading and sharing. I hope it leaves you encouraged.