Growing Into Me
Hello. I would like to personally welcome everybody to Growing Into You.
“Where ever you go, go with all your heart.” -Confucius
My name is Tad, and I am a graduating senior at Indiana University. I will be receiving my degree in Sport Management with a minor in Business. When I do get my degree, there are two things that I am debating between doing. I either want to become a collegiate baseball coach or open my own baseball academy. I love to coach because I truly enjoy being able to teach others about the game that I love. I want to see each player reach their full potential, and if I am a small part of the reason for their success, then I have accomplished my goal. Opening my own business, on the other hand, would be a very exciting venture for me. It would allow me to have control over everything that I do, along with giving people of all ages a place to improve. The decision is a tough one.
Transitioning
The last five years have been a transition period for me. After graduating from high school, I was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB draft. I chose to attend Wichita State and play baseball there. I do not believe professional baseball was in the cards for me though because every year I played at Wichita State, I suffered a season-ending injury which resulted in surgery. These injuries really threw my life into a whirlwind. Baseball was all I knew how to do, and I did it well. So, needless to say, this was a down period in my life.
After my third year at Wichita State, I decided to transfer to Indiana University. I wanted a new scene and hopefully some better luck. This, however, was not in the plans either. My first game at IU was the last in my baseball career. I suffered a torn labrum and rotator cuff, which required major shoulder surgery. This is an injury I am battling with to this day.
So as you can see, the past few years have been one of struggle for me. I have had to cope with letting go of one of the only things in life that I truly enjoyed. This, I believe, is where my self-improvement journey really began.
Having to fill 60 or so hours a week was a daunting task. I was so used to waking up every morning to go play baseball. One day I woke up, and there was emptiness in my life. I needed something productive to do. Unfortunately, it did not come at first.
The first thing I noticed after I quit playing was a HUGE change in my body composition. I went from 190 pounds with 8 percent body fat to 210 pounds and “I don’t even want to know” body fat. The next thing I noticed was how sedentary my lifestyle became. Some of my sedentary lifestyle I could not control because of my two shoulder surgeries. Some of it though was just a fact of me being lazy. I could not play baseball, so I did NOT want to work out. It just made me remember how much I truly missed the game I loved.
My Change
The biggest change in my life, the change that altered my life forever, did not occur until the fall of 2007. One day I came home and Liz (my significant other) told me she was pregnant. At that moment in time, I went into a deep state of shock. It was something that was definitely unexpected. I took a step back to think and she brought a picture of the sonogram to me. I looked at it and in that very moment something deep inside me changed. I realized that I HAD to do something about my life because if I did not, it would affect my soon-to-be-born daughter.
So, needless to say, I set out on a self-improvement venture. I am the type of person that when I set my mind to something, it is all I think about. I usually live and breathe what I set my mind to, so for the past eight months or so, I have been researching, reading, posting, and doing whatever else I could do to better myself for my new family.
After all of my research, I knew that I need to start living healthy to live a longer, quality filled life. More importantly, I needed to start respecting life itself. I had no clue what it was all about until I saw my daughter, Peyton, for the first time. She was born on Feb. 28, 2008 at 4:19 A.M. That is the moment that changed my life forever.
Before that moment, I had been all about myself; going after my goals, practicing baseball 24/7, and worrying little about others. There in that moment, I realized it is not about me. I now have this beautiful baby that I am responsible for teaching the most important values this world has to offer.
My Goals
So now that I know what life is all about, I am able to set a course of action that I could have never set before Peyton was born. I have a set of goals that are completely new to me.
1. Experience life to its fullest: Instead of lying around watching “Everybody Loves Raymond,” I want to live life like every moment could be my last. I want spend quality time with my family, visit my parents, stay in touch with my friends, and most importantly spend as MUCH possible time as I can with Peyton. Every time I look at her, she has changed a little bit more. I am truly enjoying every moment I get with her.
2. Live in the here and now: So much of my previous life was spent worrying about what I was going to become. Now, I realize that we cannot control what will happen tomorrow, so why worry about it. Whenever I begin to worry about something in the future, I just remind myself, “Be here, and when we get there we WILL be o.k.
3. Become the best possible parent/role model: As a baseball player at WSU, I took my role modeling very serious. I realized that there were kids out there who looked up to me. This really made me think before I took any actions that could hurt how those kids viewed me. Now, those kids are my daughter. She watches everything I do already, as a one month old. I can sense her studying me just as I am studying her. This makes it much more important to live life as it is supposed to be lived: with love, respect, and faith.
4. Develop healthy habits: Now that I have a family, living a long, healthy life seems that much more important; important enough for me to take a course of action. Liz and I have both began to eat healthier and exercise daily. My goal is to continue this.
5. Travel the World: I never had this goal until I recently began to blog. There is so much out there that I want to see and be able to experience. Not only do I want to experience it, but I want to be able to give Liz and Peyton the experience as well. Peyton should be able to grow up and have great memories as a child, and going to different places is something that a person always remembers
6. Impact as MANY people as possible: Finally, my last goal is to try to effect positively as many people as I possibly can. This impact can be anywhere from making somebody’s day, to helping somebody succeed in the classroom or on the baseball field, to helping one of you change your life for the better. My ultimate goal is to help others, so if I have touched or helped change one person, my blog has been successful.
So, as you can see, the last five years of my life have truly been a roller coaster that led me onto the path I need to be. Wherever you are in your life always remember these things: First, no matter how tough a time you are going through, the sun WILL come up tomorrow. It may be hard for you to realize this, but life can be a constant struggle, and perseverance is a key. Secondly, everything that happens can change you. You want to make every experience lead to a more positive one, always try to avoid negative change. Finally, wherever you are, be there. It is not as if you can just up and leave that moment in time, so you might as well enjoy what you have been given.
If any of you would like to e-mail me a story of change, a guest post, or because you are going through a rough patch and need somebody to talk to, please feel free. My e-mail address is tad@growingintoyou.com. I welcome any communication lines you would like to open. I hope to hear from all of you soon.
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Tags: change, family, goals, inspiration, kids, life, love, personal, Self-Improvement, spirituality, thoughts, writing