Thankfulness

Shaka Smart is the head basketball coach at Marquette University, and he says their number one core value is appreciation. He feels like appreciation is the foundation for anyone that is successful over a long period of time, on or off the court. The ability to recognize the good in someone, something or event is a high level character skill.

Tarheel legend, Coach Dean Smith, insisted his players point to the teammate who passed them the ball after they scored. We encourage the same of our players and these “small” gestures mean a lot to the culture of our program. With that said, let me “point” to my staff. I recognize I would be absolutely nothing without my staff who serve so unselfishly alongside me.

A majority of us have learned to be thankful for the obvious. Those aforementioned examples certainly demonstrate thankfulness, but let’s take this virtue to the highest level: How do you respond to adversity? True wisdom comes from being thankful for the hard things in life.

Even in really bad situations, there are great things that can come out of them. When you look at things from this perspective, an “attitude of gratitude”, you realize that anything that happens today is in your best interest. It’s an opportunity to learn and grow.

Our focus must shift from “what has happened” to “how we respond.” We want 'Strong R's'! We dive deeper into this when we address Event + Response = Outcome (E+R=O).

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