Choose Wisely

I’ve been a part of a lot of teams over the years. From the time I was 5 to the current age of 40, I’ve been a part of many athletic teams of different sports. Some as a player and some as a coach. I’ve also watched several as a parent. I’ve also been a part of a team in the workplace my whole career. There are many facets of a team that play into the success of that team. There is obviously the talent. This plays a role in the success no doubt. There is experience and age and maturity that plays a role as well. But, there is also another factor that largely determines the success of a team and that is team chemistry. Team chemistry and the culture and climate of any team might just be the single most influential part of the success or lack thereof, that any team experiences.

This is created by the leaders of that team. The leaders are the coaches, then followed usually by the older members of that team. Younger, less experienced members can also lead, but usually they progress with age and lead as they become the veterans of the team. There is a process and a progression that takes place with most players and teams.

Does this mean that every team that has great culture and leadership will be successful? No, not necessarily. Sometimes there are just days when someone is better than you. There are days when you get beat no matter how great your team chemistry is. That’s just life. We can also learn in those moments and it helps make us better in the future. But, is the chance for success greater with great leadership and culture? Yes, it is!

There’s also a factor that can lead to the downfall of a team, or the underachievement of a team. That is a drain. We have discussed fountains and drains on here before. Life is full of fountains and drains. What we don’t want to be is a drain. But, there are plenty out there. Drains can destroy a team’s chemistry and culture and directly effect the success of a team very quickly. A lot of the time they don’t even realize it. They have no clue that they are the issue. They constantly complain or have a something negative to add to the mix. They constantly look for problems or feel that someone is always out to get them. They just have such a negative outlook on life that it in turn has an effect on the rest of their team too. We’ve all seen it at some point in life. The sad thing is that most of the time, the drains don’t realize they are the drain. They feel it is always someone else. That’s the drain mentality.

I relate this to sports and to teams because right now our fall sports are winding down and the playoffs are in full swing. I see teams succeed and teams that don’t make it as far as they want to. It reminds me every year of why sports are great. They teach us so much about life. They give us lessons that can only be learned in competition and being a part of something bigger than ourselves. Everything I have talked about in this post has a direct correlation to life, more importantly, to our Christian life.

Now that we have talked about some factors that make a team successful, let’s look at something that deals more with us individually. That is choices. Think about how many choices we make daily. There are so many, beginning from the time we wake up to the time we go to sleep that we take them for granted. We don’t even realize we make them a lot of the time because it is just what we do every day. Then there are those choices that are a lot bigger deal and have a lot larger impact on our life.

We honestly don’t have a lot of say as to who is on our sports teams growing up. It is who is from the town we are from and who plays that sport. But, within every team there are leaders and people we want to model our craft after. Then there are those that we don’t. This is where choices come into play. It’s just that simple. Life is much the same way. There are those we want to model our life after and those we don’t. There are leaders and there are followers. There are great examples for us to try and be like, and there are examples that show us what to not be like. The biggest difference between our childhood sports team and our Christian life is that we get to choose our circle as Christians. We get to choose who we are around to a certain extent. We still may have those at work or the gym or other places that we would rather not be around. But, for the most part we have a choice who we let influence us.

As I watch these teams compete this time of year, it is so awesome to see the good guys win. It is so cool to watch people that do it the right way succeed. Does that mean that every team or person that does it the right way always succeeds? No. Life is that way too. Bad things happen to good people as well. Challenges happen to good people. But, when someone that does it the right way succeeds, it just makes my heart happy. When fountains reap what they sow, it is very satisfying! When drains reap what they sow, well……………..(You can fill in your own blank here)

Choose wisely who you model your life after. Choose wisely who you follow on social media. Choose wisely who you are around daily. The things you see, hear, and participate in will have an effect on you. The mind is a powerful thing. The things we allow to enter our minds will eventually control us. I Corinthians 15:33-34 tells us that “evil companions corrupt good manners” ( or morals, depending on your version). Does that mean that we never associate with this type of person or that we don’t try to be their leader? No. We can still try to influence these people just as Jesus did. We just have to be careful not to let them change who we are and change our moral compass.

I challenge everyone this week to evaluate whether we are the one lifting others up or if we are the one bringing others down. Are we the one contributing to our circle’s positive chemistry and culture or are we the one bringing others down with our negative attitude? Are we the one complaining about everything and looking at life like someone is always out to get us, or are we taking challenges head on and embracing the chance to overcome obstacles? Which one are we? If we are the ones bringing others down and contributing negatively to those around us, we might need to reevaluate who our influence is. We might need to look at our choices and see just who and what we are allowing into our minds. Have we chosen wisely? Have we posted things on social media that had a positive influence on others, or have we posted things or commented on things that contributed to the negativity that this world is filled with? Have we sent someone a text message to lift them up and let them know we were thinking about them and praying for them, or did we send someone a text message complaining about something or someone else?

I got a lesson in this one time that I will never forget. I had a principal when I first started in education that I went to with something I didn’t really like about something at school. I’m not even sure almost 20 years later what it was. When I finished telling him about it he asked me, “well, what’s your solution to the problem?” I said, “I don’t know, that’s why I brought it to you.” He said, “don’t ever bring anyone a problem without at least having thought about a solution. If you do that’s just complaining, not trying to make anything better.” This world is full of problems and it needs solutions. I hope we are part of the solution and not the problem! I hope we are the ones that lift others up and that we are the example to others that Jesus has been to us! It all comes down to choices! Choose wisely my friends, choose wisely!

Love God, Love People!

Have a great week and God Bless!