Self Satisfaction and Achievement

“You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”

Steve Prefontaine

Here in the very near future, the school year and spring sports season will have been completed, and there has been many personal achievements and goals reached by the competitors in Soccer, Tennis, Golf and Track and Field, and you the athlete and the faithful supporters should step back for a second and remember the moments, that will be cherished for a lifetime.

It doesn’t matter if you scored a hat trick, hit a hole-in-one, and/or cleared 7’0” in the high jump, your personal achievements deserve recognition, just as much as the athlete that scored their first goal, hit for par or elevated over opening height. The personal goals and praise should be shared, by the successful competitor, it is healthy and part of being self-satisfied, considering each and everyone of our biggest critics, is yourself. Accept the praise given to you; most positive praise is from credible, legit sources.

The next time you attend a soccer game on the pitch, catch some net action and/or take in a track and field meet, applaud all the competitors for their successes, no matter if they break the tape, all the way to the last finisher. A prime example of the loyalty of athletics, are the former athletes that return to watch the sports action of their former teams and are proud to wear the specific colors of the school or team.

It doesn’t matter if you have family members competing or not, find time to support your former coaches that have made you the wonderful person that you are today, whether they affected you in the classroom or in the athletic spectrum.

At the State Track and Field meet in Omaha, there is a conglomerate of former Bearcat athletes cheering on the current Kearney High participants, each and every year. They take pride in their accomplishments and the schools current feats.

The Pride of your school can be demonstrated in multiple ways, and recently ‘Suhperman’ Nadamkong Suh made a large financial contribution to the Nebraska Cornhusker athletic program, to thank the University for the chance to achieve his personal goals and as a result of his successes and the donation, Suh should be self satisfied, totally.

In a totally different aspect, but just as valuable situation, NFL Super Bowl winning lineman Carl Nicks recently returned to the Nebraska-Lincoln campus and apologized to coach Bo Pelini and AD Tom Osborne for bad behavior when he was a Husker. There was no financial exchange, but the self-satisfaction and respect gained by the mentioned individuals, is priceless.

Which begs me to ask the question, if you are self-satisfied and proud of your school; is your school proud of you?