Yesterday the Heisman Trophy finalists were announced, and unfortunately, a
very deserving individuals name was missing from the list. Perhaps you
have never heard the name Derek Carr, but I put a link at the end of this
post, so you can read a great article published about him in the New York
Times. Derrick is the star quarterback at Fresno State and is projected
to be a first round draft choice in the upcoming NFL draft. Across the
board, his statistics are better than everyone else who was selected as
finalists and he played one less game, due to the flooding in Colorado.
However, the school he plays for, the conference that school is in and the
level of competition were held against him for some reason. Never mind
that some of the other nominees played against competition that was inferior,
clearly politics and bias tainted the voting, but it is what it is.
Derrick is also a husband, father and someone who puts his family and faith
above everything else. While everyone else is in an uproar about this
snub, he has been silent about it. Clearly, winning, or not winning this
coveted metal trophy does not define how good of a quarterback he is, or what
type of a person he is, with or without the millions of dollars he will soon
make in the NFL. He really made me think about things because of his
refusal to let a win, a loss or other life circumstances change who he has
become. In fact, I'm confident he is home right now, being a dad and husband
to his wife and son, or out studying film so he can beat the hated USC Trojans
in a few weeks, and is not the least bit worried about a silly trophy.
It can be a slow process, but I'm learning that I cannot let outside
influences affect my confidence in who I am. It is not easy to reverse
the thought process that controls how I feel, but the opinion of others must
not sway me if I am to thrive and be successful in whatever I was created to
do.
We live in a society that defines individuals by many factors, most which
have nothing to do with the actual person. We define people by the brand of
clothing they wear, what side of town they live in, where they shop, how flashy
their car is, and a number of other superficial factors. Seldom do we
really get to know someone prior to deciding who they really are. It is
much easier to make a decision based on the external factors that we see,
rather than to investigate and find out who the individual really is, or what
really makes them tick.
Often times, we succumb to the pressures, and allow others to dictate how we
should dress, what we should drive, or who we should associate with in order to
be deemed a "success", but never let anyone or anything determine
yourself worth. In order for this to work, you need to take the time to figure
out who you are and what you stand for. Once you have a better
understanding of who you are it becomes much easier to ignore the naysayer,
thrive in spite of rejection and bounce back from setbacks.
So just for a minute, let’s all become like Derek Carr. Let’s be
confident in our skills, abilities and intelligence and stop worrying about what everyone else thinks about us. Let’s clearly
identify the roles that are important to us in life and make carrying out those
roles our utmost priority. Let’s be so grounded in our faith that no
circumstance can shake the foundation we stand on. Last but not least, let’s
not let awards, snubs, wins and losses or other things knock us off
track. There is life beyond man's approval and accolades!
As always, thanks for taking time to read. I hope you have been
entertained, humored, challenged or encouraged by my ideas and thoughts!
Please take time to click the link and read this article. New York Times Story on Derek Carr
***For those who may not know, the Heisman Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding college football player of the year. It is voted on by many of the nations sportswriters. If you Google "Derek Carr Heisman Snub, you will find that many prominent sports writers feel that he was far more deserving than others to be nominated for this award.
No comments:
Post a Comment