" 'You can't save all of them.. there are too many. What difference can you possibly make to all these dying starfish?' " As the kid picked up another starfish… and threw it back into the water.. he replied to the old man, "I made a difference with that one!"

Things on my mind..

 I think back to the coaches I have had as a player and I think of the ones that really made an impact on my life..  Just to believe in someone I have learned is one of the biggest gifts you can give..  You hear these sorrowful stories and things all the time but then on the field for just 90 minutes there are moments where you get "taken away" and feel pure joy.  Happiness that is so real it "saves" you and can make you forget all your troubles even if it is for a second.. Today, I coach and have coached so many different players, personalities and teams. I want to make a difference with as many "starfish" as possible!

I love this quote.. You can not become a lion by training with deer.. As a player and as a coach I am drawn to these lions. I want to be the best, so as a player if I beat the best at their best then I know I am the best. I know am a Lion. 

I overheard a team I coached talking and saying before a game, "They are to good" "They are the best" "They have senior level players" "We are juniors" I look at them in my pre game speech and said "I hope they have all their best players!!! You think we are going to lose. Its ok because they are more experienced, older, better?.. but what happens if we WIN???! I hope they have their whole national team. I don't care about them. I care about us. We are good, we have the right pieces, together we are unbreakable!!" They just looked at me.. Then I ask "So what does that make us if we WIN?!" That day we came to the field as a deer and left as a Lion!! 

I saw this picture this morning and it reminded me of my staircase!! The feeling of being able to conquer the stairs in my school was like winning a world cup.  Something so little to you can seem so big to someone else. New steps are awaiting and it takes a lot of courage to take that "first" or "next" step. Here is my staircase story http://jackiebachteler.blogspot.se/2012/10/every-step-you-take-every-move-you-make.html

This is from the movie Center stage.. It is about a group of dancers in the American Ballet Academy in NYC.  One of the very talented dancers did not get a good role in the ballet. She is not liked by the director and one of her teachers Juliette Simone gives here some GREAT advice!! If you don't make if at first "go back to the bar (floor)" (as they say in dance) Work, train, keep going..  "If you come back here you'll be home" When things get tough, when things don't work out, when I do not succeed I always go back the field… There I will always feel at "home"