Create your own Opportunities

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My high school Volleyball Coach had a mantra, “Create your own Opportunities”. What he wanted us to do on the court, was make sure that we were always putting ourselves in the best positions to succeed.  What we did not realize is that it was hard.  Why move my feet to the ball when I can lazily stab at it with my arms and potentially play it with quality? Why make the extra effort to pursue the ball on defense when nobody else was going to for it with me? We wanted to succeed, that’s why. It required constant hard work and a lot of sweat, as well as an ability to endure giant, stinging floor burns.  It required a willingness to advocate for ourselves to each other when we did not want to, and a sense of urgency in getting ourselves on the right track.  If we put in the hard work and committed ourselves to making all of the tough moves to play the ball, then we were going to keep ourselves playing at a high level. That is how we created our opportunity to succeed.  And we did. Our varsity team won three state titles back-to-back-to-back from 2007-2009. We put in the time and the hard work. We overcame our obstacles, we learned from them, and we made sure that we stayed true in our course towards our next state title.

Whether you have one already, or have yet to create one, you are in the right place.  Keep walking, lift a foot, leave a track.