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Even basketball can show Spirit at work.
March may be my favorite month of the year. Why? Well, now that I live in Florida, the weather is perfect. 70's and 80's with little to no humidity...but that's not it. Why...because it is when March Madness begins. Actually, it's already begun. Smaller conferences have already settled their conference tournaments, so some teams have already punched their ticket to the Big Dance. A couple of weeks ago, all of the other conferences conducted their tournaments, culminating with my favorite Sunday of the year...Selection Sunday! That's right, the day the NCAA revealed brackets for the NCAA tournament. (Sidenote: How can the NCAA get the basketball tournament so right...yet the football postseason is so wrong?) Okay, so what in the heck does this have to do with Spirit in the workplace...and why is it guilt-free for me?
Let me answer the second one first. This is the first year in a long time that I haven't been working for someone else. So, I won't feel bad vegging out in front of the TV...because I won't be on anyone else's clock. In years past...my lunch break got a little longer...and I made a few more frequent stops online to check scores. Come on...innocent enough...but I have a very sensitive conscience ;-) This year, it's just me and my free-agency, and me the boss is giving me the employee those days off.
Now, the Spirit part. Part of the reason I love this tournament so much is because it feels so pure. I am not a fool, I know this is about big money, advertising, ratings, etc. etc....but for the players involved, especially those at the smaller schools...this tournament is about love...joy...and passion. Joy fits this tournament to a T. For the next few weeks, basketball fan or not, you will see buzzer beating shots, coaches and players jumping up and down like idiots from joy, and people we have never heard of before will become household names. Players like Trevor Huffman.
Who is Trevor Huffman? Trevor may not be a household name right now, but to anyone who watched the tournament five years ago...you knew who Trevor was. Trevor is a good friend of mine, and for a few weeks, he helped lead his Kent State basketball team all the way to the Elite 8. He was on Sportscenter, CBS, USA Today, the Daily Dime, etc....he was everywhere! Trevor is what the tournament is all about.
Trevor comes from a tiny town in Michigan called Petoskey (a stone's throw away ;) From day one...he dreamed of playing in the NBA...and he committed his childhood to basketball. A two sport star in high school, and a two-time All-State basketball player...Trevor didn't receive any Division I basketball scholarship offers. With the college deadline nearing, and no offers, Trevor sent his basketball tape to obscure Kent State University...and at the last minute...he was offered a scholarship.
Over the next four years, Trevor helped lead Kent State to three NCAA tournament appearances. He was an all-conference players twice, and his career culminated with the amazing and unlikely run of his Kent State team to the Elite 8. Listen, when experts talk about small schools that could make a run in the tournament, that Kent State team is the standard they compare them to.
Today, Trevor is still playing basketball professionally. He still dreams of playing in the NBA, and he has been invited to NBA camps over the years, but has been unable to stick on a roster yet. In his four years since college, Trevor has played professionally in Germany, Poland, Venezuela, the United States, and Portugal. Recently, he won MVP honors for a mid-season tournament.
To me, Trevor represents Spirit at work! Trevor's work is basketball, and he has been bringing his full Spirit to the game every day of his life. I have talked to him so much over the years, and I am overwhelmed with the resolve and commitment he has maintained in living his passion. There are so many spiritual qualities that go into being a top-flight athlete, and Trevor recognizes how important his Spirit-side is to the success of his career.
What I also love about Trevor's approach to basketball and his dream...is that it is not about fame or money. He is happy right now living in obscurity. He plays for a small town in Europe few people have heard of, he is not sure if he will ever make the NBA, but he is still living a dream...and bringing the same work ethic to the court everyday. He is expressing his Spirit from his very core. It is who he is...and he is living it.
To me, it makes me think about my own passions. I had dreams as a kid of being in movies or being on Saturday Night Live, and needless to say, that hasn't exactly worked out (yet). But, here I am in Jupiter, Florida teaching acting and performing on a regular basis for a group I helped create. I am happy. I feel I am getting the chance to fully express my spiritual qualities, and although I don't know where all of this is going to lead...I know where my priorities and motives lay...and together with my Spirit...I will take me wherever I need to go.
So, when you are watching the tournament this month...there will be a lot of talk about the players who will be playing in the NBA, but that is not really what it is about. It will be the coach from Nowhere State and the player from Armpitville who steal the show and our hearts...and remind us of what it really looks like and feels like to live your dreams...love your work...and express all of your qualities to their fullest. Who cares if you make it to the NBA...and who cares if I know your name three years from now...you know who you are...and you know what you love.
Just do it! (Does anyone own rights to that saying?)
Let the madness begin!!!!!!
Travis Read more from this blogger on TravisInc .
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