A Dent in the Apple

     A morning ritual for me is my daily apple, which Nette Smith, our cafeteria manager and dear friend prepares for me before our school day begins. An apple a day, you know, keeps the doctor away kinda thing. Well one morning not too long ago as Nette pilfered through the apple box, she came upon an oddly shaped little fella that did not look exactly like a "normal" apple. The typical apple is of course shaped in a circular fashion a little larger at the top possibly, yet round would be the best description fitting of this delicious, nutritional treat. The apple in discussion did not meet that criteria. At first glance it was typically round, yet in one area of the apple the shape was indented, not from bruising or some other type of incidental contact, but as Nette and I concluded it must have laid up against a branch of the tree during it's formation causing the apple to not fully reach it's full potential. As Nette and I stood there hypothesizing about the apples shape, I told her there's a lesson to be learned here, and thus here is today's Flat Tire Ministries Thought for the Week!
     I read a quote once that went something like this, "If you rest on your laurels, you will only squish them." meaning if you get content in life you will only tarnish the growth and success you have experienced up to that point in your life. Much like the apple that sat too long against the branch of the tree, we too have to be careful that we do not get complacent with our position in life and not seek to grow or expand our knowledge base. There is way too much to accomplish in life and way too many needs to be met to ever think we have reached our destination and now we can sit back and celebrate our past successes and everything else will take care of itself. The aforementioned apple did not have control over it's situation in nature. The fruit was situated beside that branch and it's growth or non-growth in this case could not have been controlled without human intervention. Mankind, on the other hand, completely has control over our own choices in life.
     To choose to sit around and wait on someone else to do what needs to be done simply because you have already done your share is the quickest way to dissolve any progressive change you have made in life. To get comfortable and situate ourselves on a branch of the tree can only lead to a lasting indention on the potential we have to make a difference. My choice is to keep moving, keep seeking, keep knocking on doors, and to keep finding new ways to make life better for someone else in their life. Fortunately for me I have the grand opportunity to make that difference in the lives of young people everyday. It is my duty, no, my responsibility to find ways to place the leaders of tomorrow in a position to make a difference in the world they live in and to learn themselves to never be complacent with the way things are.
     It would be easy to get to that place where I might think I have done my share and now it's time for somebody else to step up, but I have to remember that as long as I have breath in my lungs to breathe then I have work that still needs to be done! Don't be that apple with an indention, don't squish your laurels by sitting on them, make a difference each day because that is what you were created to do! Have an amazing week and everyone around you will benefit from it!
Coach Carter