YOU FILL IN THE BLANKS

As a sports parent, there is incredible power in your perspective. There are so many ups and downs to endure, so many struggles and challenges both for you and for your child to face, and so many opportunities for both of you to learn, grow, and improve. It's your perspective that determines what you do with those ups and downs, with the struggles and challenges, and with all the opportunities you are provided. What you see in the experience – and then what you decide to do with what you see – will go a long way in helping to determine who your child becomes, on the playing field and beyond.

This reality is true for each of us in any area of life: our perspective fills in the blanks of our experience. What happens to us – or to our kids – is important, and often this part of the story gets written outside our control. But how we perceive what happens is actually much more important. Our perspective doesn’t determine the event, but it does determine the meaning we give the event (or don’t give it). It determines what we can learn from it (or what we choose not to learn), and how we can use it (or what we decide not to use).  Our perspective on what happens – and then how we choose to respond based on that perspective – is the most important part of the story, and this is the part we get to fill in.

What happens to us – or to our kids – is important. But how we perceive what happens is actually much more important.

It’s like that childhood word game Mad Libs. Remember playing as a kid? There was a story written already, but you were responsible for making choices that completed its most important parts. By filling in the blanks, you gave the story meaning and purpose. You could make it any kind of story you chose – silly , serious, or something in between. The decision was yours.

Believe it or not, you’ve got a similar opportunity with every event or experience in the life of your young athlete – even the difficult ones. Your perspective fills in the blanks, and in doing so can give today’s event or experience meaning and purpose. That is, if you choose to make it so. You can be watching your child have the exact same experience as the parent sitting next to you in the bleachers, and yet – based on your perspectives – the two of you can create a pair of very different stories about what's happened to, with, or for your child. See for yourself the power of perspective in this version of the game I've called Sports Dad Libs…

I hope you can see today what the champion sports parent sees, that every event or experience – even the difficult ones – are an opportunity for you and your child to learn, grow, and improve. You won’t be able to control everything that happens, but you do have the power to choose your perspective and your response – to fill in the blanks of his or her experience with meaning and purpose. By recognizing the power of your perspective, and then choosing to see what champions see, you write a story that helps your child become their very best. And that's a story you can be proud of.