Hope They Tap That Energy Life Long

You know, I find inspiration in my children every day. In a world where the messages focus on young people derailing like Britany, or in full-blown vapidity like Paris, it's easy to forget that it's all filled with great kids striving, working, achieving.

Three of four of my boys happen to be competitive swimmers. One swam collegiately, and the other two are currently club swimmers. All four of my sons have their black belts in Kenpo karate. Talk about toiling in obscurity! At the high school, the winningest sports team in the history of the school is the swim team. They get almost no recognition compared with the ball sport teams. Karate? Well, that's certainly not mainstream in the least.

The other day my third son, shown in the picture here that was in the local paper this week, that he bases his entire life on the tenets he learned in karate. He said, "It's at the basis of all I do." He went on to explain how the mental and physical discipline of karate he applies to his swim training and studies in school.

Today I took my youngest son to his swim meet (warm-up at 7 am at a pool 30 minutes away, mind you), and I am always so moved by the hundreds of kids there working to achieve their best. No one is gonig to the Olympics. Very few even reach high levels of regional competition. But the discipline, the sense of competition, the striving to achieve is what is really at the heart of the thing.

And in order to strive and achieve, each one of those kids has to access that positive energy--the flow-- that is always waiting to be tapped. You have to open the valve, let it roar, and really KNOW you can succeed. This energy is supported by all they've put into their training. Then they dive off the blocks--each time a quest for personal greatness. Even if these young people can't express this experience--or even know they're doing it--they're learning what it takes to be open, and let it rip. My hope is that every one of them becomes cognizant of the power they have within, and is able to unleash that surge in all they do for the rest of their lives.