Living The Dream!

It's hard not to be a proud Dad while being blessed with having sired two outstanding young men. They just keep attaining accolades and one of them is about to see his life long dream come to fruition. On Friday March 9th, my baby is going to play in his first professional football game. Since that young man was seven years old, he's been pursuing that dream. He's been very vocal about it, and never has he been deterred by the setbacks thrown his way. It's been the very essence of the dream, struggle, victory process.

I can vividly remember as a seven year old, he was chatting with 3 players from the Chicago Bears. They asked him what sports he was playing and he proudly told them he was a football and baseball player. So the advice they gave him was to pursue a baseball career, because he's play longer and make more money over his career. It was then I knew by his response he was a focused young man. He stared at them with great determination and proclaimed, "I'm going to play professional football, I'm not in it for the money!" Those three giant humanoids were just sacked for a loss by a seven year old with a dream. From that day forward, he's never looked back.

Now mind you he's never been an atypical football prototype. He was thin, but fast. He knew he had no control over his body size other than to build muscle, which he dedicated himself to doing. He constantly worked on his speed, and made incremental advances. That was a skill that could not be taught! He perfected his vertical leap, so no one could outreach him in an attempt to catch the ball.He's studied the game, and possesses the knowledge of a coach, he's a student of his craft. Where he could make a difference, he concentrated his efforts, where he couldn't he left in God's hands, and wisely so. God rewards dedication. He built himself into a football player, and a fine one at that, honing the gifts God blessed him with.

Friday night that blessed football machine takes the field wearing #21 for the Florida Tarpons of the UIFL. All that hard work will continue as this is but the first step toward his ultimate goal. You see once your goal has been achieved you need to set another, and his has been set. We'll see Stephen Howard in the NFL, I'm certain of it!

There have been his critics who've tried to squash his dream. They are all enjoying a serving of crow right now. When you turn your negatives into motivation, you supply yourself a powerful force to achieve your ambition. Some will be in the stands to see if it's true, some will be there to supply more motivation to move forward, but I and many, many others will be there to see him achieve his dream.

Live your dream!

God Bless!
Capt. Bill