Do you have pride?
Before I start, I’d like to preface that fathers are not always biological. If someone loves with all their heart and calls you son or daughter, you indeed are their child, and blood couldn’t make you any closer! With that being said, my dad has been in my life my whole life, and I’ve never seen him other than such. He drove me crazy and made me laugh just like other dads do, but he also taught me some great life lessons.
When I was in sixth grade, we moved to Clinton, MS, and it was there he taught me the most important lesson a son could ever learn. I remember it like yesterday, I played organized football with the local youth park team, and we had just finished our last scrimmage before our first game. I was playing a new position, which I hated, but that’s another story for another time. I remember dad walking to me afterward, and I had a massive smile on my face because I was playing football again, but it left as soon as it came because my dad asked a question that will forever ring in my head. “Do you have pride in what you are doing?” Now Before you judge my dad, I grew up in a household where we did not sugarcoat anything, not even eleven-year-olds.
I have always been a person that has contemplated life and wondered what it all means. That moment is the anthesis of my understanding of one having pride in their work because before then, I thought pride was wrong. I remember listening to sermons about how having pride is terrible, which is correct. No one should be so prideful that they never ask for help or always feel they’re right. But instead, this notion allowed me to question if I really loved what I was doing and was my heart in it!
It was not until I stopped playing football years later and began cheerleading that I learned what my dad meant. I remember pouring my heart and soul into, day in and day out. I had so much pride in cheer because I worked so hard that I felt confident when game day and performances came. I could smile, and no one could take that away from me! I realized that I never loved football as much as I did cheer because my heart wasn’t in it. I remember my dad coming to one of my games my senior year at USM, and he said, “Wow, you look like you really love what you’re doing!” For the first time, I could say yes!
In everything I do, I remember those words in the back of my head. I want to feel confident and know I am putting my best foot forward. When it comes to my job, podcast, and this blog, I know that I am giving all that I have. Thanks to dad, I have pride in my work, and no one can take that away from me!
Uncommon Legend 
Leave a comment