Reflections on 23 Straight Days of Blogging for 2023

Having a full week off at Thanksgiving provided me the opportunity to relax, take a breath and look around. Maybe I should have kept my eyes closed—I noticed that basket that lives by my desk could not be contained. I let months of magazines and articles pile up. I did a personal inventory: What had I been reading? What was I missing? And how did I let things go?! 

I am fascinated by the idea of "inbox zero," but I know all too well (shout out Tay-Tay) what will never be. And yet, I recognized with this (new) break, I could do something about this mess. I have learned it takes 21 days to build a habit. I started to wonder, about writing as a habit. It is something I would like to do more regularly. Could I? If so, how? An idea was born.

On the Happier podcast, Gretchen Rubin and sister Elizabeth do an annual challenge with listeners. Rubin writes, "We’ve done #Walk20in20, #Read21in21, #Rest22in22, and #GoOutside23in23. Framing a habit this way makes it feel more fun–and also easier to maintain."

I've embraced their challenge since 2020. I have stuck with reading 21 minutes a day for the past three years. Last year, I aimed to play 22 different golf courses and attend mass at 22 new Catholic churches. Come August, I modified the challenge and combined the two. Mission accomplished! 

At the onset of 2023, I thought I would attend a combined total of 23 different sporting events and religious services. I didn't need an excuse to attend Wimbledon, but this goal made for a good one. And still, I lost steam somewhere in last January or February. I let it go and was okay with no 23 for 2023.... until I saw that basket.

I save articles because they spark an idea for a blog posting. Sometimes I need the information for teaching. The joy of offering a class like Sports and Spirituality is that what I read, write about and require is symbiotic,—one feeds into the other. The annual challenge provided a solution: blog for 23 straight days in 2023. Game on.

The first thing I want to say about this challenge is that I did it. I wrote everyday for 23 straight days. A colleague noticed that I was pumping out a lot of content. I told him I don't recommend it. At time, I was sleep deprived. I exercised less. I didn't have time for other things. In response, he said, "but you did it. You did it." Thank you, Darius for affirming the accomplishment. Truly, there is satisfaction in setting out to achieve a goal. I did it. yay!

Second, it was fascinating to see how bound a person can be to a commitment. More than once, I told myself "I don't have to do this." However, deep down inside, I knew I had to do it. There is some sort of moral fiber—a "stick-to-it-ness" that I have always been aware exists inside me. I was back in touch with that entity. I'm glad it's there.

Third, it was amazing just how many ideas came to me in the knick of time. For example, one I night I while waiting to pick up my friends' son, I took notice of a new kind of Giving Tree/Angel Tree. It wasn't early in the evening, but without a doubt, that had to be the post for the day. I have long subscribed to the mantra: seek and ye shall find. I did! But I also believe that there's something to be said for being found. 

Fourth, it's not insignificant just how much happens in a 23-day time period. In that three- week plus time frame, my alma mater named a new president, an icon in the St. Ignatius College Prep community passed, our country observed as national holiday, I attended a college football game, a beloved radio host lost his job and a celebrity came clean about a hot topic—the day AFTER my post. I would like to think she read it, but reality suggests otherwise.

For anyone seeking to take on a personal challenge, this is what I learned. Here are but a few recommendations from my 23 for 2023

• Start when you have some free time. The Thanksgiving break provided me with the hours to lay enough of a  foundation that made it harder to opt out. By the time I returned to work, I already had six days under my belt. The finish line wasn't close, but it wasn't impossible.
• I have a number of drafts on my blog. I had already done some strong writing and worked through the ideas. Too often I let perfect be the enemy of good. I just hadn't finished the thought or in this case, the post. Similar to my basket of papers, I wanted to work through those drafts. 23 for 2023 allowed me to finish four of them!
• Be aware, and okay with the fact you will make sacrifices to accomplish this goal. Because I knew that I was going to write for 23 straight days, I realized my missing my morning workout or getting less sleep was for a short period of time. Was it worth it? Only you have to answer the question. If it's not, reconsider your goal. For me, it's a yes and a no. I'm a both/and person; this is fitting!
• Many people will make an argument for accountability. In this instance, I was accountable only to myself. I did tell but a few people I trust and respect but overall, the goal was mine. I did not do it for financial gain, for honor or glory. I did it because I was curious to discover how it would go, what I would learn and how it will affect me in the future.

Am I a better writer? Maybe. Do I have more respect for those who write for a living? 1000%!! And I'm related to one! Was it fun? YES. I love sharing my stories and making connections. I wouldn't have a blog if I didn't. Would I do it again? Probably not. I could, but I have my day job ;-) My biggest take away? What I heard from my coworker and from my own self: I did it. Young kids delight in doing things by themselves. I guess that never goes away.

By the numbers. In the 23 for 2023 posts, They were inspired by
book: 3 posts
video: 1 post
article: 2 posts
podcast: 2 posts
event: 5 posts
magazine article: 1 post
Notre Dame: 4 posts (only 4?!!)
health issue: 3 posts

Questions for you the reader: What is a tension in your life? Or an area of dis-ease? Meaning, something you want to contain or tidy up (think of that basket). What can you do to get to the bottom of it...or simplify. Consider a way to frame the task you want to undertake. Think of the advice and go. As Gretchen Rubin would say "Onward and upward!" Here's to 24 in 2024 and guess what it is....

For 2024, our challenge is…#Write24in24!

Depending on your goals, your specific project, and what’s manageable, you can write for 2-4 minutes or 24 minutes a day. Click here to read tips and strategies for approaching this year’s challenge in the way that works for you.

Photo Credits
23 for 2023
You did it.

Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings: A Gift for Any Coach

Dear Reader, 

Genuinely curious. A friend or family member gifts you a book for Christmas. It is not a read you put on your Christmas list. Yes, gratitude and appreciation is implied—but how many times out of ten do you read said book? 

I say this because one of my favorite gifts was the book "When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Faith, Family and Funny People" by Jeannie Gaffigan. My brother gave it to me, I gave it to a friend and have recommended it to countless others. In the event you need a recommendation for a friend who has several children...a woman of faith...someone who needs a good laugh—Gaffigan's work is worth it. If your child happens to participate in high school sports, espeically  during the winter season, here's something for their coach: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson.

Whether or not this person coaches or plays basketball is inconsequential. I say this because the head coach of the Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr has read and re-read "The Inner Game of Tennis." In fact, he sighted this as a source that prepared him for the position of head coach. None other than Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks recommended it to him. Two coaches of two completely different sports consulted one another on a book about an entirely different one. Sounds fascinating. I gain so much insight through compare and contrast. 

I read "Eleven Rings" because a former student recommended it to me. As you can see from the tabs, I found more than a few things worth remembering. The purpose of this post is to not to get you to buy the book, but to learn a few ways Jackson opens his teams to Sports and Spirituality. If you decide to make the purchase, I would love to talk to the recipient of this book. It's so rich. It's real—Jackson did the work, and it's inspirational.

According to Dolly Duffy, the executive director of the University of Notre Dame's alumni association, the number one request from alumni and friends during shelter-in-place was for spiritual resources. On the Wednesday before Easter 2020, 50,000 people went online to pray with the University's President, Father John Jenkins. This desire for meaningful prayer reminded me that our hunger and thirst for God is unassailable. I believe coaches are in a privileged place to help the people they work with tap into their desire for meaning, for connection, for the holy, and the unassailable. Jackson does this in unconventional ways. Maybe a coach you know is open to leading in this way. I have taken but a few of his basic principles and included them .Jackson writes: 

I'd like to give you an overview of the basic principles of mindful leadership that I've evolved over the years to help transform disorganized teams into champions. You won't find any loft management theories here. With leadership, as with most things in life, the best approach is always the simplest. 

Enjoy. Pass them on. Read them for yourself or give them to a coach you care about/who cares about your child. Merry Christmas!

The Jackson Eleven: #5. Turn the Mundane Into the Sacred

As I see it, my job as a coach was to make something meaningful out of one of the most mundane activities on the planet; playing pro basketball. Despite all the glamor surrounding the sport, the process of playing day after day in one city after another can be a soul numbing exercise. That’s why I started incorporating meditation into practices. I wanted to get players something besides x’s & o’s to focus on. What’s more, we often invented rituals of our own to infuse practices with a sense of the sacred.
 

At the start of training camp for instance, we used to perform a ritual that I borrowed from football great Vince Lombardi as a players formed a row on the baseline. I’d ask them to commit to being coached that season, saying “God has ordained me to coach you young men, and I embrace the role I’ve been given. If you wish to accept the game I embrace and follow my coaching, as a sign of your commitment. step across the line." Wonder of wonders, they always did we did this in a fun way with it but with a serious intent the essence of coaching, as a sign of your commitment, step across that line.” Wonder of wonders, they always did it.

We did this in a fun way, but with a serious intent. The essence of coaching is to get players to wholeheartedly agree to being coached, then offer them a sense of their destiny as a team.

The Jackson Eleven: #6 One Breath = One Mind
Mindfulness meditation is an easily accessible technique for quieting the restless mind and focusing attention on whatever is happening in the present moment. This is extremely useful for basketball players, who often have to make split-second decisions under enormous pressure. I have also discovered that when I had the player sit in silence, breathing together in sync, it helped align them on a nonverbal level far more effectively than words. One breath equals one mind.

The Jackson Eleven: #8 Keep your eye on the spirit, not on the scoreboard 
Management guru Stephen Covey tells this old Japanese tale about a samurai warrior and his three sons: the samurai wanted to teach his sons about the power of teamwork. So he gave each of them an arrow and asked them to break it. No problem. Each son did it easily. Then the samurai gave them a bundle of three arrows bound together and asked them to repeat the process. But none of them could. That’s your lesson, the samurai said “if you three stick together, you will never be defeated.“

Hearing the Unheard: I was always looking for new ways to get inside the players’ heads. When I started coaching the Bulls, I had the players create what I called a personal shield, a simple profile based on questions such as What your greatest aspiration? Who’s influence do you the most? And what is something people don’t know about you? Later I asked them to fill out a more formal questionnaire and use their answers to probe more deeply drain our one on one meetings midway through the season.

My favorite psychological tool was one called a “social bull’s-eye,” which creates a picture of how people see themselves in relation to the group. On one of our long road trips, I’d give each of the players a sheet of paper with a three ring bull’s-eye, representing the team’s social structure, in the center. Then I’d ask them to position themselves somewhere on the bull’s-eye based on how connected they felt to the team. Not surprisingly, the starters usually placed themselves somewhere near the eye, and the back ups scatter themselves in the second and third ranks. One year back up forward Stacy King, a fast talking, stylishly dressed player who made everyone laugh, drew himself hovering far outside the third ring. When I asked him why, he said, “I don’t get any playing time, Coach.” Which wasn’t true, but it was how he felt. On the surface, Stacy seemed confident and gregarious, but inside he felt like an outsider struggling for recognition. I don’t think I ever figured out how to heal that wound.

Bittersweet Victory: Getting the players to turn inword wasn’t always easy. Not everyone on the bus was interested in “spiritual” realization. But I didn’t hit them over the head with it. My approach with subtle. Every year the team went on a long West Coast trip in November when the circus took over the stadium for a few weeks. Before the trip I would select a book for each of the players to read, based on what I knew about them. Here’s a typical list: Song of Solomon for Michael Jordan, Things Fall Apart Bill Cartwright and Zen and the Art of motorcycle Maintenance John Paxson.

As the regular season wound down, I thought it was important for us to have closure as a team. This was the end of an era, and I wanted us to take some time to acknowledge our accomplishments and the strength of our connection. My wife suggested that we perform a ritual that she had used with children whose parents had died in the hospice program where she worked so I scheduled a special meeting before the start of the playoffs and asked everyone to write a short paragraph about what the season and our team had met to them. We met in the travel room. It was just off the inner corner of the team, the players the coaches and the training staff. Only about half of the people wrote something ahead of time that everyone spoke.

I could do go...I'll let Jackson's book speak for itself! What a gift

Fashion Forward: From Gary Player On

In November, I had the chance to interview one of my heroes, Danielle Green '99. In our conversation I learned that her former teammate Niele Ivey helped her pick out the dress she wore for the 2015 ESPY awards. I wasn't surprised. I follow Ivey, who is now Coach Ivey, the head coach of Irish women's basketball team is featured on social media. It's hard not to notice her—she has a dynamic presence, she is passionate and so often she looks like a million bucks. The color, the style is bold and it's beautiful. Danielle agreed. She said "fashion is huge in women's athletics." Her insight made me pause and take notice. I think it might be true for men, too. 

Much was made about a recent wardrobe choice of the San Francisco 49ers. Upon arrival in Philly before the Sunday, December 10, 2023 match up, several players set the tone by showing up to the game wearing all black.

On "Inside the NFL," all-pro left tackle Trent Williams said,

A couple of week ago, I already knew I was gonna come all black

I knew that was gonna be my mindset. My mindset was gonna be time to kill. We're going to a funeral.

The final score, Niners 42, Eagles 19 proved this was not a wardrobe malfunction.

Athletes find new, unique, playful and meaningful ways to communicate through clothing. While football requires a team uniform, athletes find ways to express themselves from My Cause, My Cleats to the duds they don pre and post game. 

Athletes who play an individual sport however, have (some) freedom to express themselves through their apparel. Yes, many have contracts with certain lines of clothing and their sport may require a dress code— but there is room to make a statement. They have been doing that for decades.

I'm sure many examples come to mind, but in the Winter USGA Golfer's Journal magazine I learned about a pair of pants worn by Hall of Fame golfer, Gary Player. Known for wearing all black, the South African wore these pants at the 1960 Open Championship to show his support for ending apartheid. Player stated the pants were "a quiet protest, of bringing white and black together." He wore them again in the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews. They are now up for auction. 

While golfers are not required to wear a certain color (like all white at Wimbledon), they don't vary all that much from a norm. There is no "bad boy" of golf in terms of apparel, as seen when Andre Agassi wore denim washed shorts and neon colors. Still, Player's pants made a strong statement. His message was clear. It still is. Simple, yet potent. 

I do enjoy the posts of Notre Dame women's basketball traveling to their next game. What they wear on the runway, albeit an airport, tells me a little bit about who they are and of course who they represent. They have made their own statement in the past when they were among the first to wear an "I Can't Breathe" t-shirt in their pre-game warm-up. 

Whether it's a team's collective decision to make a statement before a game or an athlete's decision to stand behind an important cause, sports are entertainment AND much more.

Photo Credits

Deebo, Gary Player

A Wonderful Holiday Tradition: The Christmas Giving Tree—Sports and Spirituality Style

I reviewed a number of polls listing the Top 10 Most Popular Holiday Traditions. You can probably guess what rings in the yuletide cheer: decorating a Christmas tree, baking cookies, putting up and looking at twinkly lights. I wasn't surprised to read "write a letter to Santa" but I wasn't expecting to read about "hanging the holiday pickle." There was however one tradition that I did not see. It's an important one and I know many people, many parishes, family and friends rally around it: The Christmas Giving tree.

In case it is something you are not familiar with, a giving tree is a charitable version of the Christmas tree a school, church or community puts in a public place. Hanging on this tree are ornaments labeled with the name of a charity, a specific present or a gift card amount. The giving tree does much more than serve as a festive decoration—it  enables a person to choose an ornament, make a purchase and give back.

My friends' son had his final scout meeting of the year at Calvary Presbyterian Church. While I was waiting to pick him up, I noticed that their giving tree was not like the others I had seen before. Attached to its branches were zip-locked bags of gloves, A few held socks. One even had a pencil pouch! Another had art supplies. I was a little surprised. Sadly, here in San Francisco so much gets taken from public places without permission. But next to the tree was a sign, inviting someone, anyone! to "take what you need, give what you can." I loved the creativity, the generosity and the opportunity. That's the holiday spirit!

I started to wonder why I had not seen this type of Giving Tree before. And then I began to imagine how sports teams, athletic offices, boys and girls clubs, community centers and gyms could create their own Giving Tree: Sports and Spirituality style.

Ideas for what to hang in ziplock bags on this sports tree include

• batting gloves
• goggles or a swim cap
• sleeve of golf balls, tees and ball markers
• head band/wristbands
• sunscreen/lip balm
• ball pump
• gift cards to Dick's Sporting Goods, etc.
• baseball, basketball and football cards—for the sports fans among us.
• Other thoughts? Ideas?!

Invite your sports teams to give and to help others get what they might need. To participate in athletics isn't cheap, but they can be formative and fun. They encourage fitness and help people make friends. 

Our prayer at school today focused on the words: comfort and joy. I can't help but consider how this type of giving tree brings tidings of comfort to athletes and joy to all who participate in the decoration and deliveries this Christmas. 

FORE! Thoughts on Ozempic

I played golf on Friday on my home course. My score was unremarkable. I had one birdie thanks to a killer 18 foot putt. I cobbled together a few pars, but I also picked up on two holes. Two! I've been playing this game for a solid ten years now. While I have certainly improved from those beginner days, I wonder to what degree I have come to accept, the type of golfer I am.

I work at my game—I take lessons on a quarterly basis. I try to play most weekends. I get in a whole lot of golf when I'm on break, especially in the summer. But yes, I can and will keep my day job. Still, I would like to shave a few strokes off every round. I want more GIRs. I hope those will make room for a string of pars and an occasional birdie. That would take a whole lot of work and yet, I have an answer to my problem: a new drug. 

Though quite costly, the only confirmed side effect of this drug is that once a person stops taking it, their game will return to what it once was. (A trial examined people who had taken the golf drug once a week for 68 weeks and then stopped using it. After a year, participants gained back two thirds strokes they lost). A good number of golfers taking this drug report that they are less interested in golf— but they play anyway. Of note, the improvement is fast. The index will drop in a short amount of time. The results are obvious, thanks to the World Handicap System. 

What I find interesting about this drug is that most golfers won't admit that it is the reason their game has gotten better. When asked "how did you get so good?" they tell other club members “It’s not one thing, it’s everything.” and it is the result of "willpower." While that may be true for some of the men and women out there at the club, the majority of us are getting older—not younger. We have to work harder to keep muscle mass, maintain balance and flexibility. However, this drug is just the trick. Long term effects are unknown, but the bottom line is why put off for tomorrow what you can achieve today?!

If this story sounds like an extended metaphor, it should. According to the New York Times The Daily podcast, no other drug has become a household name faster than Ozempic. Odds are you know someone who is taking it.

I want to be very clear about this: all metaphors are limited. Some of comparisons help a reader recall, remember, understand and appreciate an idea on a much deeper level. Other parts of a metaphor fall short. Still, I find value in using them in writing and teaching.

Second, I also want to acknowledge Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications for weight loss related to diabetes and obesity have truly helped people. Praise God! I value the work of modern medicine and am by no means anti-drug.

Third the purpose of this blog is to express my concerns and raise a few ethical questions about it. I welcome yours. I'll start with a story....

I've talked to one friend about her experience with Ozempic. I wondered if she was taking it, but I didn't bring it up because it's her business. In our conversation, she opened up about her "why" for taking it. I asked about her hopes and her fears—as related to taking the drug. She admitted that she had not told her husband she was taking the drug and for a brief period of time last summer, she went off of it. She gained the weight back.

To my surprise, she asked me what I thought. I would have left the conversation at that but she wanted to further engage in a dialogue. Since we were sharing honestly with one another, I relayed my questions—ethical ones, a few causes and yes, my concerns. 

On a macro level, it makes me very sad that our culture places so much attention and emphasis on thinness—yes, being thin. While thinness is still an obsession, in the last ten to twenty years, I thought we made significant strides toward body positivity. We have seen this in ads, mannequins, totem  characters and yet we really don't. Yes, fat shaming is intolerable, but to be overweight is a heavy burden—both physically and socially. Moving away from this culture of thinness might be a losing battle. There are explicit and implicit messages everywhere you look. Social media doesn't help.

Of further concern to me is the way that Ozempic recalibrates the paradigm for thinness. People who are healthy and fit now look heavy. This distorted view of how we see ourselves is the enemy of self-acceptance and self-love. I think we should always be seeking to improve ourselves in every way possible. I believe that we will have to make sacrifices along the way to do that. That road is not easy. It takes patience, self discipline and support. We will have setbacks. We might even fall. So what's the solution? Take a drug? 

The emphasis on a our physical appearance, especially thinness recalculates how we see beauty, too. Physical attractiveness is entirely skin deep and light weight. But each of us has our flaws—physical and otherwise. To be self assured and to comfortable in your own skin, that's a big part of beauty. Last year, the US Surgeon General issued a public health statement on loneliness in our culture. Will there be one in the future about self acceptance? 

On the personal level, what bothers me most the willingness take a drug to solve a problem that for some people is NOT a problem. My friend does not have a weight problem. She's always been active and like me, would love to drop a dress size. At our age, the weight is getting harder and harder to keep off. (I do want to thank for all the sisters who warned me that the Traveling Pants would start to get tight...and tighter). My friend isn't unlike a number of people taking the drug. They carry and extra 10, 20 maybe 25 pounds.…take an injection 2x a week and those extra lbs are gone. As written in the New York Times, “These drugs were not designed for normal-weight people who want to get down to be super thin.” None of this sits right with me.

I got this questionnaire today!

While my friend was honest with me, she wasn't honest with her husband. The ethics teacher in me says I hope she will be—for the sake of integrity. It's hard to be honest in "some" areas of our lives and not others. We've all experienced this truth; I know I have. I would like to know how taking Ozempic affects how she sees other people. I'd be curious to know if she's seen subtle changes.

My friend does not play golf, if she did, I would continue to speak vis a vi the golf metaphor. Play in a foursome with people who make you feel good about who you are—both on and off the course. Whether or not you are fitting into that golf skirt from seven years ago is not the point—it never was. If you shoot an 80 today, great. If you shoot 95, that's fine too. Don't be afraid to move to the appropriate tee. Life is just too short... I don't think there's a drug to change that. 

Ozempic has taken me on a moral journey I did not expect to take at my age. As completely tempting as it would be to drop that dress size, plus, I feel too committed to the principles of working toward my best self all while doing what I can to accept myself for who I am. I think this is something I have to model for high school students and athletes, and my nieces. I've read a number of articles about the topic and my biggest gripe is the power we have given over to a drug. Whether or not we want to admit it, this drug is changing a person physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. That's worth careful consideration. Fore!

Photo Credits
Dove
Drug
Shot