Randy and I are waiting for our 3rd roommate to arrive in a couple days, a quarterback named Conor Price from Georgia. He asked both of us how we were feeling about Serbia and the team etc. We both responded with "You'll just have to wait and see."
There was a reason for that, we didn't want to ruin anything for him that he can experience first hand. I read a theory in college about experiences and how artificial ones can take away from original first person views. For example: When we are in a Geography class about the Grand Canyon the teacher says, "Ok class, check out the pictures of this massive formation on page 27 of your textbook." You open it up and turn to that page and say, "Oh my goodness Ms.Smith that looks pretty big." That's that, you've seen it now and from that point on your original view is tarnished. When someone says have you ever "seen" the Grand Canyon you can respond with "yes".
Now, think back to an ancient explorer. He wakes up in the morning and decides to go for a walk in a new direction today. He's walking and sees a break in the trees. His first thought was probably, "Oh, I've reached the end of the forest." Then all of a sudden he stumbles upon, for the first time in his life, something he could never have imagined. It was different in every way from anything he had ever "known" before, an all-engulfing, never ending, deep canyon, that for all he knows is the gateway to another world. He hasn't heard stories or descriptions or even folk tales of a place like this to fog his comprehension. If I had to guess, this person probably sat down in awe to take all of it in, or the exact opposite. He sprinted straight back to where his village was and probably attempted to describe this "un-Earthly" view and in-turn ruined it for others because his description, in no way, could do it justice.
For that man, the excitement and experience he had was as pure as they come. The same goes for a surprise birthday party that is a success or when someone is describing a story and they say "you had to be there". Both of these instances go back to this principle of first time emotions. We try to simulate these with "surprises" or scenarios that occur and will never be able to be reenacted. Like the first time you lay eyes on the person you want to spend the rest of your life with or a football player's first time putting pads on and the confusion that follows. These moments are extremely original and stick in our minds as an authentic view.
I try and apply this principle to my own life. When vacationing, most people look up pictures and post photos that they were given via a website. These photos are taken as what the photographer sees as the frame's "best moment". When you look at a picture of a dining area in Cancun, Mexico at the hotel you'll be staying at; it is probably taken at sunset, in summer, with every item in the frame perfectly placed to attempt and give you the sensation of "perfection". The truth is, you're going for Spring Break when the area looks it's worst, the chairs and umbrella have faded, the table setting is missing a salad fork, and the smell of a rotting coconut is nearby. Although the 2nd sounds worse, it is still an original experience. You have no prior view to judge this moment off of and in turn, it is "perfect". Anyone who is relatively familiar with Daoism has heard "No knowledge, is knowledge."
With my own moments in life, I strive to notice these times and let my mind really focus on what emotions, feelings, and sights are around me. In relation to football, at the end of the season when the seniors are finished and the team is at it's lowest or highest emotionally. I advise the younger players to really focus on remembering this moment of struggle. That feeling of conclusion, success or failure, happiness or sadness is crucial for future motivation and life experiences. You remember this so that you can go back there emotionally and mentally to recall the feelings you had and apply them to the present.
This idea is often used with married couples whether they realize it or not. The wife says, "Do you remember the sunset on our first honeymoon night?" And the husband responds, "Of course I do, I'll never forget that for as long as I live." They smile, look each other in the eye and feel that same warmth that they shared in that moment of the past.
There is a quote that I got from Coach Anderson that reads something like this, "The best, shape the present to achieve the future that only they can see." When we remember what the feelings were in past experiences it helps motivate us to shape the present to earn those feelings again or avoid them for the future.
An excellent example in my life was when we beat Ankeny in the playoffs to go to the UNI-dome. I was sitting in the locker room after the game and I was so happy that I started to cry. My friend, Ben Burzacott was sitting nearby and he asked me, "Shane bro, you alright man? We won!" and all I could respond with was "We did it man, we did it." At that time I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of the past. All those hours of struggle and pushing my limits had paid off in a way that I felt accomplished, finally. I'll remember that moment for the rest of my life as the first time I had happy tears that forced me to reflect upon the past in a way I hadn't before.
Jordan, in exactly the moment I'm writing about.
He had this to use as motivation for the next
5 championships the Chicago Bulls would win.
When speaking with people who have lived great moments they all seem to share a mutual reasoning, "Words cannot describe it." The motivation to actually live these moments drives us to do great things in the present and makes us experience things we might not have ever known were attainable had it not been for the burning desire to find the times that "words cannot even describe".
-One Life
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