For Irish Americans who are into the Irish "business," a trip to Ireland is always on the brain. As I get older, my ideas continue to evolve in terms of what I'd do there and who I would see. As the pennies have drifted from my business, it seems highly unlikely that I will ever make the trip. And honestly, unless I am whole financially I would not want to go. I don't enjoy steak when I have little money, but a burger tastes pretty good on a budget. I could never enjoy traveling unless I could pay for it all myself and take care of things at home. Even if I won a trip and still had a bathroom that needs fixing or a rusty car, I just couldn't go. Coming to reality with my trip to Ireland reminds me of another come back down to earth moment that I had recently.
A fine Jewish scholar by the name of Marc Trestman, the current head coach of the Chicago Bears said some things to the University of Illinois football team that I caught on You Tube. Football ( like soccer or hurdling or basketball or baseball or other team sports) is often used as metaphor for life. Life lessons pour out of the sports world. Anyway, Trestman said that it was important to approach victories and defeats in the same way. He pointed out that we need to meet our setbacks, learn from them, and then continue. He was talking to college kids, but his suggestion is something that has been difficult for me all my life. I really like to avoid the bumps in the road if possible. I am a hard worker, few are more determined than myself, but boy do I hate setbacks. Often for me, my mind stops working when problems fall down like an avalanche. I remember some pithy saying about troubles or problems that someone came up with and I think, yah that's OK for him, but he's a millionaire. Or I think OK, but look how young he is. I suppose sometimes my thinking gets down right ridiculous. Oh yah, she made her business work, but she lives in Rhode Island! Oh yah, he can do it, but he's Lithuanian!
I took Trestman's talk to heart. He made a lot of other good points that are life lessons. He talked about how important it was that everyone in the locker room respects one another--that players pick up after themselves and don't leave things for someone else to have to remove. He told the players that everything they did either inside or outside the locker room was important and would have an impact on the entire team. He said everyone coming into the locker room was welcome and everyone should be valued. And then he told the young men that everything they did for others on the team would last long past their life, but things they did for themselves would be short lived. He said that when everyone works together to help each other out, that's when great things happen. Point after point was the kind of stuff the nuns used to tell us in grade school. It was wonderful to hear again.
