"Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose!"

I love these two.  Lucky guy am I!

It's Saturday morning.  Yeah!  I'm sitting here drinking some coffee with Myles in my lap and I'm ready to blog.  This morning I awoke at 6a and ran 14.25 miles in about 1hr42min.  It rained--the kind of rain where you are soaked to the bone--the entire time.  Ten minutes into the run I was drenched.  By the end of the run I was I was dripping wet, covered in mud/sand/rock (from the TowPath), and just flat nasty.  I loved every second of it--okay--almost every second of it.

Last night Sarah and I watched the series finale of the show Friday Night Lights.  We absolutely love that show and we identify with Coach Taylor and his wife Tammy Taylor (Guidance Counselor/Principal).  One, their relationship banter reminds us of how we sometimes go back and forth.  Two, what they stand for--helping out young students and pushing them to reach their potential--resonates loudly with us both.  The show is outstanding if you love the underdog, believe in the good of young people, and just love watching examples of how you should deal with character and ethical issues in your life. 

Coach Taylor always tells his players:  "Clear Eyes.  Full Hearts.  Can't Lose!"  I thought a great deal about that phrase on my run this morning and how it applies to my life.  For me, "clear eyes" refers to how you represent yourself to others and to the world.  It's all about being honest, telling the truth, and working hard.  It's about working through the end of your contract, it's about running in the rain, it's about doing the right thing.  I had one of the most powerful conversations with a student yesterday and we talked about how much better it feels to live life with no hidden skeletons and just open.  I know we all get into situations where we have a skeleton--some bigger than others--in the closet.  It always feels better when the skeleton is out.  Again--clear eyes means you can totally focus on your goals because nothing is blocking your vision--which leads to "Full Hearts."  When I think about "full hearts" I think about putting everything you have into what you love. It's running and pushing yourself to reach your potential.  It's caring about something so much that you feel unrivaled elation when everything goes well and you feel profound disappointment when things go wrong.  It's living with emotion and laying it on the line.  In my job at IUPUI in HRL I approach my work this day.  There is not a person who would doubt that I put everything I have into work and the people I lead.  In return, 98.5% of them give me their best everyday.  You cannot beg people to work hard.  But...when you work with a "full heart" approach many of the folks you lead will come right along with you.  Finally, "can't lose."  This is not about an actual win or loss or reaching some professional milestone.  "Can't lose" is about being able to look at your self in the mirror and be very, very proud of how you reached accomplishments--even if you come up a bit short.  We cannot all win the game.  I'm not going to go out and win an Olympic Gold Medal.  But...My goal for the Monumental Marathon on 11/5 is to run a 2:39.  For me, that would be about as well as I think I'm capable of running a marathon.    However, if I put in the miles and train with integrity (clear eyes) and I train hard and push the limit of my physical capabilities (full hearts), then no matter what happens I'll be proud (can't lose).  The same applies to life.  I would rather go all out and try hard for something and come up short, then to settle for the easy path and never really push myself to the limit.  So...my challenge to myself will remain to approach everything I do within the spirit of the phrase:  "Clear eyes.  Full hearts.  Can't Lose."

I hope you have a great day and weekend.  Mine has really gotten off to a good start and I'm happy about that.  Myles and I are getting ready to do some cleaning.  Happy running to you...