It's Never Anything Big

The beauty of a blog is that I can do whatever I want on here and nobody can do anything about it.  I mean, you can choose not to read what I write, but I’ll never know the difference and sometimes it is cathartic to simply write what is on your heart and put it out there for everyone to see.  That’s what I’m going to do today.  Maybe this isn’t a MOTIV-centric post on the MOTIV blog, but you’ll allow me just one.

Today my college alumni magazine for this quarter of the year came to my sister-in-law’s house today (we went to the same college).  There’s an article in there about my bowling and the work I do with Motiv.  This article caused me to take some time to reflect on my last 14 months. 

Just over a year ago I was jobless, frustrated, living far from where I had spent my first 29 years of life and feeling pretty sorry for myself.  I joked with people that the masters degree I had finished before moving with my wife to Northeast Ohio was a masters in unemployment.  There’s a little bit of truth in a joke, though.  Honestly, there wasn’t a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.  The best job offer I had was not in an area where I had studied in school and not an area where I had any passion.  Still, it was a job, so I felt obligated to seriously consider taking it.

Life was bleak and seemed to just be getting worse.  My dad told me every time I called to him crying that it would “work out.”  I told him every time things this bad don’t just fall into place like that.

Then, just when everything seemed to be terrible, I got a call saying that Motiv was going to register to be on the PBA National tour and that they needed someone to represent them out there along with handling some other tasks throughout the year.  Oh, and by the way, they wanted to know if I’d be interested. 

Since that phone call everything has “worked out.”  Not once has my dad pulled me aside to say, “I told you so,” but I suppose that he didn’t tell me what he told me so that he could one day remind me he was right. 

In the last year I have acquired what can only be described as one of my dream jobs, won a PBA Regional title, qualified through every Tournament Qualifying Round that has been held for two seasons, assembled a brilliant staff of outstanding bowlers, and been given creative influence in the product development of a bowling ball company’s product line.  I don’t say this to brag; I promise.  I am simply in awe of what has happened around me over the span of one year. 

 However, I would be remiss if I did not tie this to bowling in some way.  So, this perspective really encapsulates my World Series of Bowling experience for the 2011 season.  Honestly, I can’t express the disappointment that I felt for the first four days of the tournament.  There was something fundamentally wrong with my game and I put forth the worst four days of competitive bowling I have experienced in my entire life.  However, thanks to Virginia Norton, we made one small change to the shape of my pushaway and I managed to make the cut at the Carmen Salvino tournament. 

I don’t know if there is one lesson to be learned here.  Honestly, I don’t know why I felt compelled to share this besides to say this; in life, in bowling, in virtually anything, hope is really never lost.  There’s always tomorrow.  For me it was not really even something big, just one little phone call, a single coaching tip, that turned everything around on a dime.  My coach, Jeff Anderson, always tells me when I'm lost in my game, "It's never anything big, things are never as bad as you think they are."  He's talking about bowling, but he could be talking about life just as easily.

I feel incredibly blessed to be where I am today.  Thank you, Motiv for providing me with an opportunity to do what I love and get paid for it.  Thank you Shannon, you are an incredible support when I was a miserable sack without a job and now, as I am gone for weeks on end.  Thanks to Mom and Dad who always share wisdom and comfort even when I don’t want to hear it.