Tag: motivation

Blogpost, self-reliance, SoccerLifeBalance

The Beautiful Game Has Become Ugly

Pete Huryk

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” – Oscar Wilde

There are many people who would push back on me suggesting that soccer is an art form. That’s completely fine! A bunch of paint splatters or a urinal hung in a museum are not my cup of tea either. Given that art is subjective and mediums have change through time, I don’t think that I’m out of line to call the beautiful game, ART. Some of the best actors do not read from a script. Musicians jam and vamp with their bandmates far from the notes that are on the page. So in my estimation, a group of eleven people trying to find rhythm from chaos is a form of ballet as much as it is a sport. Whether you buy into my belief or not, at bare minimum, you understand where I’m coming from.

Painting of Pele by Andres Ramos.
Art imitating art!

Now let me take it back to the Oscar Wilde quote. Other people can dissect his words in any way that they like. For me, the idea that life imitates art comes from the fact that artists take their medium to extremes. Generally, life is not an extreme sport. In the beginning, humans needed to be conservative with their actions because our survival depended upon it. Even though there were cave paintings, they weren’t of spaceships or a flying squirrel suit. They showed hunters going after an animal. The art was in line or one step ahead of the time but it gave others something to imitate. As we progressed forward, the media of arts expanded and gave expression to the order of the day as well as more extreme ideas. Did the myths about the gods come about to explain them or give people license to emulate them?

Now that I’ve taken you through my thought process, I believe that our world is in distress due to our art. It’s not as simple as Tipper Gore would have liked. Her labels on explicit albums did not change the releasing of the art that she disliked. She simply made it taboo and therefore more desirable. Since the art that I care about is soccer, I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole. I am concerned about the artists on the field.

Soccer is called “the beautiful game” because it is a glory to behold when it is in its natural state. Eleven people trying to get the ball into the goal of the other team while defending their own. A match can have the highs and lows of a great symphony and all of the drama of a Greek tragedy. There is no lack of opportunity to raise the emotional experience to the heights that only artists can. An actor can give an audience chills when they personify a moment so perfectly with their earnestness. Unfortunately the hack actor can also nauseate an audience by faking it, not being true to the role and using tricks to skate by. It’s sad to see but that’s where we are. Players looking to game the system for the outcome rather than earnestly trying to get the result through their art. None of this is new and I know that my short musing about it will change little.

However, I truly believe that the flopping, diving and play acting has affected the world because soccer is art. Therefore, this writing, which is also an art form, could help to counteract it. A pebble in the pond, no doubt but I hope that it will ripple. If the artists who are playing at the highest level were to give up the hack tactics for a short time, would it change everything? Would kids stop flopping and taking the easy way? Would government officials stop taking shortcuts that hurt the people in their care? Would life again imitate art as it has so many times through history? I don’t know! I’d like to believe that it could. The problem is that so many things have become a business and art is a gift! So hopefully, some of the artists on the field can remember that they are making art to give to the world and it’s more than just the result. We’re all watching to be inspired toward our future selves. If you make “hack art” we’ll believe that that is en vogue. BUT if you give the gift of true expression with earnest effort, we’ll reflect that back as well.

Be an artist today!

Blogpost, self-reliance

That Dead Tree in Your Living Room

Pete Huryk

It’s completely ok if you have a dead tree in your living room right now. Lots of people do! The tradition is extremely old and has to do with bringing the life force of nature into a dwelling during the winter months. Like most of the Christian traditions, it was a mixture of the old with the “new” when Christianity was trying to convert people. More than likely, that is not why you put a tree into your house. Your tradition is a direct line to your parents, your childhood and/or a recognized social norm. All are completely fine and understanding the origins of the practice does not need to change how you feel about it. As you open presents today, drink eggnog or eat chicken gizzards (a real thing for some people), please recognize that these are patterns of behavior that you have chosen to perpetuate. Our behavior around the holidays is often dependent upon our upbringing or social circle.

The same is true for most of our behaviors. Our habits, routines, beliefs and identities are largely based upon those two forces as well. They feel normal and changing them comes with an emotional price tag even if they don’t really make sense. Calling it a “dead tree” felt different than if I had called it a “Christmas tree.” There is no emotional attachment to a “dead tree.” People could live without having a dead tree in their house but not having a Christmas tree just wouldn’t feel right. We’re looking for that feeling the tree gives, not the reasons that we started getting them. If the feeling stopped, most likely the tradition would stop. OR are we such creatures of habit that we would persist like Clark W. Griswold to have a crappy Christmas because that’s just what happens?

I’d like to believe the former but happy to help with the latter. If you don’t know why you have that dead tree in your living room and you hate the lights, the ornaments and the star, then make a change. Everything is up for consideration. The things that are necessary or bring you joy, then by all means keep them. However it is foolish to have a dead tree that you don’t love in your house.

Look at your habits, routines, beliefs and identities, if they no longer serve you, then it might be time for a change. Yes! You can change even the most engrained traditions. The Christmas tree is an extremely old tradition but you could drop it next year if you chose. Nothing in your life has that much staying power. However there might be a vacuum in the space that you need to fill with something. Not particularly a direct a replacement but something that you can give meaning. It must have value to you and help progress you forward. The Christians adopted the tradition of the tree in order to help spread their cause. What is your cause? How can you move it forward? What traditions can you adopt as soon as possible to move toward the life that you want? Begin today to look for the opportunity to move into the next season of your life free of the weight of the old and useless. Keep what works by all means! Then look to replace that which does not work with the more useful.

Forty years ago Mariah Carey was not a part of Christmas. Things change and so can you!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

Being a Horrible Ukulele Player

Pete Huryk

I am horrible at the ukulele! I’ve never learned to play a musical instrument. Even the recorder that they tried to force on us in second grade did not stick in the slightest. Although I would love to have the ability, it’s just not high enough on my priority list to invest the time and effort. There is only so much of these two resources that I have and learning to play a musical instrument is not worth the exchange.

This is a simple example that I’m sure many people can relate to. For some reason the equation shifts with other things in our lives. Fame, money, athletic ability, etc. are all endeavors that seem to cause people emotional pain because they’ve been left unrealized. I’m not sure who the best ukulele player in the world is but you probably don’t envy him. His skillset is not one that you value. The people who have the life that you’ve “always wanted” aren’t all that different from you. They just chose to put the time and effort into gaining the skills that they needed. It probably wasn’t the luck of the draw, fortunate breaks or even superior genetics. Most of it came down to choices.

So don’t lament all of the ukulele’s that you don’t play. BUT decide aggressively what it is that you do want to be great at doing. Don’t leave it up to chance or assume that you have no “talent”. We all have the capacity to become great at something. Most of the time, we’re too busy to make it a priority. We become mediocre in basically all that we do. Not due to talent but due to focused effort. It doesn’t matter what your ukulele is but when you find it, PLAY! Play often, play with passion, play when no one is listening and don’t listen when people tell you “it’s a foolish little guitar.” Most of the naysayers in this world are using their criticism to cover up their forgotten dreams. We were all meant to fly but clip our own wings because they might make us look foolish. Remember that there is nothing wrong with being horrible at the ukulele if that’s your choice. Decide on the place where you want to put your greatness, then take the time.

Your biggest critic is probably you.

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance, SoccerLifeBalance

Knee, Balls, Chest: The Anti-Neymar

Pete Huryk

There is no doubt that it was a foul. He had never even attempted to get the ball. His body barreled through mine with such great force that we were both lying off the field by about a yard. He got up first and as he did, stepped on my knee with one foot, then my balls with the second and the first foot returned on my chest. Since Neymar was only one year old when this happened, I did not know that I was supposed to roll around on the ground like I’d been shot twelve times. So I did the only thing that made sense to me at the time. I got up! We were leading in the game against our biggest rival. Although we couldn’t be certain that a win would lead to a Conference Championship, a loss would make it impossible. There was no choice. I had to get up because that’s exactly what the team needed me to do.

Wrapped within that decision was a lot of programming that came from my parents, brothers, coaches, teachers, friends and generation overall. Yes! I had been fouled horrendously. Yes! I had also been stomped on. Yes! I was in pain. And YES! I did not want to get up!

There is nothing special about my actions of that day. It was a moment in time similar to those of many people. The trifecta of the knee, balls and chest did strike a chord with me recently when I was thinking about how many people tend to deal with set backs.

In my mind, I’m equating the KNEES with faith. Many religions use the kneeling position in a variety of ways. Faith that things are going to live up to our expectations is a pretty usual pain point. As soon as something is “out of whack”, it stings a little. Our faith is shaken, even if it just for that event. While faith is a necessary ingredient to many endeavors, it is not an inexhaustible resource. Also the amount needed varies greatly.

Sorry that this is a semi-exclusionary descriptor. Although female readers have never gotten hit in the BALLS, I’m sure that there must be an equivalent. The soft spot where the pain is greater than a normal hit and it lingers. While the shot to the knee hurts our faith, the shot to balls leaves an ache that possibly we are less than we were before. Even though it’s not always intended to be, a shot to the balls feels personal.

The final shot was to the chest which represents the HEART. It is the place that our literal lifeblood is pumped throughout our body. A shot to the heart (and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name…. sorry Bon Jovi flashback) can be deadly if it happens at the wrong angle on the wrong day. That’s why our heart is housed in a literal cage of bone. It must be protected at all costs. Although it’s possible to recover, the heart is necessary to move forward.

So now that I’ve taken a minuscule moment and broadened it out to almost any emotional pain that we might feel as humans, what is the point? The point is that we must get up. We’ve become far too comfortable with Neymaring the fouls that we encounter in life. Turning a mere tap on the knee into a 12 gauge shot to the chest. Rolling around on the figurative ground as if life had dealt us a bad hand by putting any impediments between us and our goals. It would be one thing if we were simply that fragile. If our metaphorical bones were as brittle as “Mr. Glass” from the M. Night Shyamalan movies, it would make sense. The thing is that they are not. Our bones are the same stone-like implements that our ancestors had. We’ve just made some poor assumptions about what we can handle or been sold on the idea that struggle isn’t necessary.

My hope is that you don’t get hit at all but when you do, don’t Neymar it. Get up! Or even better, don’t fall down in the first place. More than likely, you can handle what has been thrown at you. You’re a descendent of the people that helped to make humans the apex predators on the planet. The tools that you have at your disposal are all that you need.

Don’t flop! You’re better than that!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

Being from New Jersey is a Superpower

Pete Huryk

Anyone who is not from New Jersey, just thought, “Makes sense, lots of super heroes get their powers from toxic waste!” I can appreciate the humor about my home state which I learned in my late teens is referred to as the “Armpit of America.” If you’re not from New Jersey, poking fun at us is easy and I’ll get to the other forty-nine states in just a moment. For now, I’m going to point out some of the better aspects of being from the “Garden State.”

  1. New Jersey is small. Not Delaware small but small enough that being from NJ means something. Sure the North Jersey/South Jersey thing exists (does Central Jersey exist?) but overall being from New Jersey is an identity.
  2. New York City is right next door. Living in the almost literal shadow of probably the most important cities in the world, puts a bit of a chip on one’s shoulder. People from New York State can associate themselves with the City easily. Much to my chagrin, we have multiple sports teams that take the City name but are in NJ. The owners either want the cachet or are embarrassed by their location. Either way, it breeds a little brother mentality that serves our residents well.
  3. The Turnpike, Newark Airport, the Parkway and Jersey Shore (TV show) are usually the first things that pop to people’s minds about NJ. While they are all eyesores in their own right, they do a perfect job of embodying the Jersey persona. “You don’t know me, until you know me.” People discount an entire state based on the worst of what we have to offer and that’s generally ok with us. Most of the people that I know from NJ are extremely tight with “their people” and a bit suspicious of outsiders. It’s not that we’re unfriendly. It’s more that you need to put in the time to get to know us. We have it all but get dismissed easily because people can’t be bothered.
  4. Pork Roll or Taylor Ham? Not only do we have a meat that is pretty unique to our area. We also fight amongst ourselves about what it’s called. In all honesty it’s a tissue vs Kleenex thing but I’ll move on. Being unique comes in all kinds of packages, even a little bag of meat. But that uniqueness probably comes with a bit of heritage. A tip of the cap to the people that have come before because even though we’re not always nice, respect seems to be a big deal.

If you’ll notice, none of these is particularly positive on their own. They are generalizations that are presented with a positive slant. Is being from New Jersey truly a superpower? Not really. Each person needs to decide to look at the ingredients of who they are and choose to look at those component pieces as positive or negative. Being overlooked can destroy someone, unless it doesn’t and they use it to make them stronger.

No matter what state you’re from! Even if you’re from Pennsylvania and you’re driving in the left lane going 55 (damnit!), having superpowers or weaknesses is a choice. Who you are is an advantage, if you figure out how to make it one. There’s nothing particularly special about being from anywhere. Nothing in the water is going to make you awesome, it might give you cancer, but you need to tell yourself a story about your greatness. Then go out and tell the rest of the world. Being from New Jersey is not enough but it’s not a bad start!

Exit 19 off of Route 80!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

NeverGiveUpitis

Pete Huryk

This is a disease that lots of people think should be spread far and wide. Before I go into my counterarguments, let’s go through the symptoms. People who have caught NeverGiveUpitis will have: a burning desire, some sleepless nights, aches, chills from excitement and many others. These symptoms are not really a problem if they are endured in service of something worth chasing. Unfortunately we have collectively told ourselves generalized lies about “quitting” and giving up. The common refrain is something similar to “Winners never quit and quitters never win!” This is simply not true.

Winners, producers, successful people, etc. quit things. They just quit the right things. They give up on excuses, lost causes, distractions, toxic people, antiquated thinking, etc. It is not a question of absolutism. Quitting is an art form that needs to be studied and perfected. Once the “weeds” of distraction have been culled from the garden of their mind, they have the energy, focus, resources and motivation to catch NeverGiveUpitis on the things that truly matter.

We do not have unlimited time, energy, focus or resources. So the idea of never giving up on a host of things means that all of them will be done poorly. Sure! You could say that you never gave up but you probably didn’t progress either. There are some losing battles that should not be fought anymore. Be willing to decide when to wave the white flag on something.

Give up the unimportant, so you never give up on what matters!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

Anti-Mona Lisa Moments

Pete Huryk

The Mona Lisa is one of the most visited and studied pieces of art in the world. Personally I’m not a fan. My best friend and I went to the Louvre in 1998. We spent about 30 seconds in front of the painting and moved on. Because we were there, we felt compelled to stop. It was a moment that I felt was largely for someone else. When you go to see something like the Mona Lisa, it is often due to other people. The fame of the painting induces others to go. Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. The Mona Lisa moment is special because it is supposed to be special. No one would question you if the painting moved you in some emotional way or left you in deep contemplation for hours. In many ways, I am the freak because I did not have that experience.

My focus tends to be on the anti-Mona Lisa moments. The times that could be common or mundane but we use focus and intention to make them magical or meaningful. Standing in a parking lot alone and feeling the weight of events that had happened days before. Walking out the door like you have hundreds of times before but deciding to feel the possibility of this particular day, not because it was special on its own but you resolve to make it special. These anti-Mona Lisa moments are available all of the time and do not require a trip to France.

Due to our hyper connected, in stereo, 4G, technicolor on steroids world, our expectation of Mona Lisa moments in our lives has increased exponentially. Vacations need to be bigger! Parties need to be grander!! Times need to be funner!!! More exclamation marks and CAPITAL LETTERS WILL MAKE EVERYTHING ON PAR WITH OUR EXPECTATIONS!!!!! Unfortunately in the end, it is all “la petit mort”. Making too many things extra means that normal is nothing.

So rather than trying to put icing and sprinkles onto everything, take a moment today and make it special. Not because it is filled with adrenaline and relevance but because it is not. This is a muscle that you can build. If you make it strong enough, perhaps you won’t need the icing and sprinkles on your next Mona Lisa moment. It will be amazing because you decided to make it that way.

Smile!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

Red + Green = Judo

Pete Huryk

We were little kids and made up a silly game as children do. The concept was that a color combination was given as a kind of “math” problem. Green + Yellow, for example. The other person had to guess what that combination was equal to out of a variety of fighting styles: judo, kung-fu, boxing, etc. I’m not sure exactly how or why the game developed but the only thing that kept the game mildly interesting was that the person posing the question didn’t have to follow the pattern of past combinations. “Red + Green = Judo” one minute and the next “Red + Green = Boxing”. While that variety added some intrigue, it also could create frustration as the person guessing starts to feel like they can never win. Childish game right! Despite the fact that it was a silly game, it mirrors two ideas that are worth considering.

We were the coolest!

Sunk costs – This term is used to describe investment of time, money, effort, etc. into an endeavor. Some people get extremely hung up on sunk costs. The amount of investment that they’ve put into something makes the situation more difficult to walk away from regardless of the prospects of success. It’s difficult to walk away from Judo because that’s what Red + Green was before. Unfortunately the game is fluid and does not really care what happened before. Sometimes “sunk costs” need to be allowed to sink, so that you don’t go down with them.

Set up your rules to win – There was nothing won or lost in our silly little game. So nobody got overly worked up about the results. It was obvious that the person posing the question also had control of the answer. It’s a great idea for going through life that many people ignore. Pain + Reflection = Progress is a completely acceptable equation for people to use regularly. It sets the user up for success rather than failure. Unfortunately for many people Pain = Pain + Complaining = Frustration. This equation is a disaster for the person who adopts it but many do. It’s easy to forget that you are making up the rules for your mind. If your rules have you set up to lose, then change them.

We’re always playing games, whether we are conscious of it or not. Most of the games are played inside of our own minds. Keeping score (if we do) and determining success are largely up to us. It’s not the childish game that my brothers and I played. However it is just as malleable. Almost nothing is set in stone. There is no rule definitive rule book that everyone follows. Most of it is a mismatch of experiences from our pasts that create our defaults. Just remember that those defaults are not particularly right. The world has many shades of color combinations and it’s your job to figure out how to fight what life throws at you.

Red + Green = Judo!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

Born Ready!

Pete Huryk

BS!!! I was born just like everyone else! Naked, afraid, unable to read or write or even hold up my own head! Yet I persisted through those difficult circumstances. After many failed attempts at walking, my parents tried to convince me to move on to easier modes of transport but I wouldn’t hear of it. Probably because I only understood basic words and phrases. I was stubborn and knew that one day I would walk. Now here I am! Decades later celebrating my imperfect birth. 46 years worth of fumbling and stumbling through life but celebrating nonetheless.

My brother holding me when I was just a blob of potential.

It’s odd isn’t it?!?! We come from such humble beginnings and the plan is very much laid out for us. “You’re not perfect from the beginning but through trial and error, you will figure things out.” Eventually we tend to forget that formula. We give up on things quickly because we’re “not good” at them. Actually we’re not good at anything in the beginning but we forget that is the modus operandi. We weren’t born ready! We were born horribly, laughably, disgustingly inadequate! But the people around us didn’t chide or berate us. They propped us up and encouraged us along the way. It was a beautiful thing for many years.

Hopefully this year, you can give yourself that same encouragement and support that you received in the early years. Maybe you’re not ready for what’s coming right now either but you can be with time and effort. You used to be a miracle! It stands to reason that some of the miracle remains, no matter how old you are. None of us was born ready. So give up on that story because the truth is much more useful. You were born as a little blob of potential. Now you get to see how much of it you can realize in a lifetime!

Happy birthday to everyone!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

Scrooge Yourself!

Pete Huryk

Last night I watched one of my favorite versions of “A Christmas Carol”. Being raised in the 80’s makes me preferential toward the George C. Scott incarnation of the Dickens’ tale. Since the story is well over a century old, it truly is a Christmas classic. Regardless of which version you prefer, the basic story is the same. Scrooge is given a chance to turn his life around after decades of being a rich but stingy and hard-hearted man. In the night leading up to Christmas, he is visited by three spirits who show him visions of what his life has been and will become. Through this experience, he makes a drastic change in his mindset toward Christmas and his fellow man.

Although the story is well known, I doubt that the experience of Scrooge is one that many have had. A full sensory experience where one’s fundamental flaw is put on full display through the years. An awakening to the realization that a part of one’s personality has kept joy and fulfillment at bay would be heart-wrenching but also transformative. While I doubt that any of us has “Scrooge-level” personality defects to attend to, each of us has kept our best self from shining through at times. Perhaps a look at our past, present and future through the lens of a habit that we know we need to change is exactly the gift that each of us needs.

So take five minutes and choose a habit that you know you should change. For a minute, think about all of the ways that this action has held you back in the past. Put the picture in your mind and see the things that you’ve missed out on or lost. Then take another minute and reflect on how this is affecting you in your present life. Just like with Scrooge, the most powerful is probably the future. We can justify our pasts in a variety of ways. However seeing in your mind’s eye, all of the ways that your future can be impacted by an action may just carry enough weight for change. Since this has a greater possibility for impact, take two minutes with these pictures. Finally write down some notes on the experience. If you were interested in changing, maybe the thoughts that you had about your future will be enough of a catalyst to make it possible. In the end, Ebenezer changed himself. The spirits only helped him along the way.

God bless us everyone!

Pete