It's okay to not be okay

The past few months, I have accumulated notes and topics I want to discuss, but my mind keeps drifting back to vulnerability. Ten months ago, I came back to Jones College and while there is a sense of familiarity here - my heart is different, my perspective is different, and my life is different.

The reality is that no one leaves life unscathed. Good things happen, but so do bad things. There is no scale to measure whose trials are greater than whose…. the difficulties are there for everyone, but sometimes we choose to only see what we are going through. At least that’s where I found myself at times. There’s no doubt we have to grow individually, but more importantly I’ve learned to embrace the fact that life can be challenging and THAT IS OKAY! It’s also okay to tell someone. The biggest mistake we can make is pretending that things are okay when they aren’t. Difficulties aren’t a “free-pass” to act how we want to act, but it is more than alright to recognize what is there and keep it moving.

As coaches, it’s our responsibility to help our students grow, but for the past ten months these people here have helped me way more than I have helped them.

Today, I encourage you to be there for someone. To really pay attention, listen, and stop acting like everything is perfect.