Positive Athlete Journal Drill September 2-4, 2008

Each day we will prepare our minds for becoming a postive athelete. Much of what we do is based on mental frameworks or mindsets. We want to develop a mindset for becoming successful athletes. During the season, we will work on mindsets that address attitude, responsibility, self-image, character, leadership and goals. Each day we will have a vocabulary word and a short discussion around the word. Research shows that by improving our vocabulary we can improve our IQ. Who doesn't want to do that? So, let's get started.

We will work the following topic over the next three days.

September 2

The word of the day is "sacrifice-to suffer loss, give up, renounce, or endure for an ideal, belief, or an end."

Review the definition given here, then in your journal write down the word "sacrifice" and use it in a sentence.

"Deffered joys purchased by sacrifice are always the sweetest."
- Mike Doyle

Next we will read the poem:

"The Cold Within."

Six men were trapped by circumstance in bleak and bitter cold
Each one possessed a stick of wood, or so the story's told
The dying fire in need of logs, the first man held is back
Because of faces 'round the fire, he noticed one was black.

The second man saw not one of his own local church
And couldn't bring himself to give the first his stick of birch
The poor man sat in tattered clothes and gave his coat a hitch.
Why should he give up his log to warm the idle rich?

The rich man sat and thought of all the wealth he had in store
And how to keep what he had earned from the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man's face spoke revenge and the fire passed from his sight,
Because he saw the stick of wood a chance to spite the white.

The last man of this forlorn group did naught except for gain,
Only to those who gave to him was how he played the game.
Their logs held tight in death's still hands was proof of human sin.
They didn't die from cold without; they died from The Cold Within.

- Author Unknown.

1. What is the most important lesson from the poem, "The Cold Within."


September 3

We will read the poem "The Cold Within."

2. How can you puth this lesson to work in your life today?


September 4

We will read the poem "The Cold Within."

3. What can you do as a team to help you remember the importance of teamwork?