The Heart of a Leader

Tonight was the night of the school basketball team's last game for the season. For the eighth graders - it was their last as a Patriot. As I've talked about before, I teach at a small private christian school and there is a sense of unity that is very strong in the school. It is a K4-8th grade school which just celebrated it's tenth anniversary this year.

I mentioned the eighth graders as tonight was their last game as a Patriot. Yes, I know, they are only in the eighth grade and they still have a high school career ahead of them, but they showed more heart than I have ever seen in most adults.

The girl's basketball team record before tonight was 15-1 (or some crazy stat like that - they had only lost one game). Tonight they played a team that was very good. Our girls played so hard for so long. The other team would substitute 4-5 girls at a time while our 3 year program produces 8-10 girls for the team, some of which are in the 5th grade. The eighth graders have been at the school for the entire length that it has been open and wanted to win so badly to close out their Patriot career on a positive note. The girls ended up losing by 25-30 points...something that they were not accustomed too but how they reacted to this new thing was wonderful to watch. They pushed, fought, hustled, and pressed on until the very last second. They could have simply stopped fully knowing that they were going to lose but chose to hold their heads high and fight until the end. I applaud their efforts and admire the heart of those eighth graders who took on a leadership role even when things didn't appear to have a
"positive" outcome.

It's the same with what many of us are trying to do. As I strive for better health - sometimes it may just be easier to throw in the towel and stop eating healthy, working as hard, or do anything at all. I choose what I know is right. I choose to work hard even when it may seem impossible to win. Despite what the temporary outlook may look like - I know what the long term can look like.

As corny or weird as it sounds - I witnessed the heart of a leader tonight in the form of three eighth grade girls who failed to quit despite the certain outcome.

Calories: 2121 cal.

Workout: 4.32