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Chazz Woodson - Words of Wisdom
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7 Big Lessons

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Happy Friday!

Yesterday, shortly after I sent the Words of Wisdom email, I posted to Instagram and Facebook a list of 7 things I’ve learned over the last 9 years of lacrosse and life. It touched home with a lot of people, it seems, so in case you didn’t get to see it, here’s the list – along with 3 others. (*You’ll have to excuse all of the “hashtags” that were placed in for social media purposes.)

9 years ago yesterday I played in my first #MLL game and scored my first goal. 9 years ago tomorrow, I landed in #Miami; no family, no friends permanently here at he time. It was 7 years ago, nearly to the day, that I spent my last day in he classroom as a 4th grade teacher. On a leap of#faith, I left the classroom to pursue other goals, dreams, and visions; some of which have come to fruition and others that have not. But it’s all worked out. That’s what #DivineOrder is all about. Things haven’t always gone as planned but they’ve certainly gone as they’ve needed to. And every time I thought things might be slowly starting to fall apart, everything came together at he right time. #GodIsGood.

Here are 7 big #lessons I’ve learned over the last 9 years of #lacrosse and #life…

1) Not everyone will be able to see or understand your #dream or your #vision, or the path that you follow to make it a reality. It’s not meant for them to understand. That’s why it was placed in YOU.

2) The right people will come into your life at the right time.

3) If you’re not dead or severely injured, nobody really cares when you get cross checked to the face, throat, or back of he neck. It’s your job to learn from it, protect yourself, and keep it moving like it never happened.

4) At some point you have to take time to reflect on what you’ve been able to accomplish. Don’t stare, but don’t be afraid to look back.

5) #StayHumbleStayHungry. Sometimes you will be on top. Sometimes you’ll be on the bottom. Sometimes people love you. Other times, people can’t wait to bring you down. Stay balanced and #focused on the job at hand. Don’t allow yourself to get too high or too low. The subsequent fall or climb will be rough. Go after what you want (#hungry), but know that you cannot, will not, and shouldn’t want to do it all alone (#humble).

6) Be appreciative and show #appreciation for the people, circumstances, experiences, and opportunities in your life. Some of them (people and experiences) will be short lived and that’s enough to be #thankful for. Some of them will be lengthier. Be #grateful for that. Some will teach you valuable lessons. They are ALL #blessings.

7) When you’re no longer interested in improving, or you’re no longer intimately engaged with what you are doing, it’s OK to move on. There’s a difference between quitting and knowing when it’s time to move on.

8) Surround yourself with people that support who you are, not just what you do. People that support who you are will often support what you doing (or help you along to something better). People who only support what you do, will often bail when they’re no longer interested in what you’re doing, when they don’t like something else you’ve done, or when they don’t like who they think you are.

9) “The only thing constant is change.” We can’t be so stuck in our ways and beliefs that the world passes us by. We live according to our beliefs (religious, moral, pedagogical, political, etc), but we also choose our beliefs. Just because something has always been done one way, doesn’t mean that it’s the right way, the best way, or the only way. This holds true in everything!

10) Sometimes you need to take a break. Breaks sometimes seem counterproductive when you are trying to accomplish things. But they sometimes are the key to regaining focus, or maintaining it. 5 minutes, a day, a week… When your body and your brain are not in sync, productivity is difficult to come by.

Make it a GREAT day, and a GREAT weekend!

Stay blessed.