Believe in Them

I have no idea how many times I have asked myself this question: “I wonder how this person is going to work out?” Normally it’s after I have offered help to someone I’ve met, hired or transacted with and with whom I have had a breakdown for the first, second or third time. I ask the question as if I am a fan watching a game on TV, interested but not playing on the field. But in the game of life I am not a fan; I am a player taking action. In business this means I’m a competitor. The first action I take is to toss the line ‘Believe in them’ to myself. (My scared self is saying, how is my believing in them going to change anything?)

When Mr. G Believed in Me

I vividly remember the second person (first was my Grandpa Lorin) who believed in me, Coach Dan Gingraux. Mr. G was my wrestling coach in Junior High. He was the cool coach, the popular teacher. He drove a blue corvette and was about 5'6" tall with orange hair that made him easy to spot at a distance. He walked up to me on the first day of 7th grade and asked me if I wanted to join the wrestling team. I had just grown four inches over the summer and lost about 15 pounds. It wasn't just that I felt goofy, I looked goofy. I said, ‘I am not much of an athlete.” He said, "You’re just the athlete I am looking for." I looked into his eyes and could tell he believed in me and I did not. I joined the team.

I was on his wrestling team for three years. The first year I wrestled, my record was 2-2 for the 7th grade "B" team. Whether I won or lost I still felt Mr. G believed in me. In 8th grade, I wrestled on the "A" team, with a 9-3 result. I started to believe in myself, but not because I was winning more. I was winning more because I believed in myself. And my only source of believing in myself was Mr. G's constant actions that showed he believed in me, unconditionally.

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