I am thankful.

I am humbled.

This is the first Thanksgiving weekend without my grandma. She will be missed, but thought of every second. Thank you, grandma.

Thank you, God, universe, karma, and every other force that isn’t fully understood. I’m grateful for the gifts you have given me, but especially for the doors you have closed.

Thank you to my gorgeous wife and angelic daughter. You both are the inspiration and motivation behind everything I do.

I am thankful.

I am humbled.

You don’t need to be an athlete to know who Tiger Woods is, and the “situation” he created for himself in the last couple of years. When the bottom dropped out from underneath him, everyone (including myself) instantly became judge and jury. I was as quick as the next person to throw him under the bus, judging his personal life and decisions he made. It took some time, but I eventually jumped down off of my soapbox, viewing him as the golfer I grew to love and regularly used as a positive example. His personal life is just that – personal! I won’t teach my daughter to emulate his off-course lifestyle, but I will absolutely help her understand the importance of his work ethic.

During this down-time for Tiger, I continued to Tweet, blog, and preach his eventual comeback to anyone who would listen. I contended that he became the best we’d ever seen, primarily due to his unmatched self belief and relentless practice habits. As long as his passion existed, these strengths would also still live inside him. My positive Tiger opinions were definitely in the minority, leaving me open to the naysayers’ hammer-drop … and it was being dropped regularly.

“He’s finished. He’ll never win again. He looks like he’s never played before. You’re crazy to think he’ll ever make it back…”

They were correct. He did look awful! And if this was a normal human being with average mental toughness and an unwillingness to sacrifice, I would’ve agreed with the majority. This was Tiger freaking Woods, however. He changed his swing three times while he was dominating the world of golf, because he always believed it could improve. Obviously, it’s valid to aruge that he shouldn’t have changed anything if wasn’t broken, but Tiger doesn’t think like 99% of the population. He believes that it’s never good enough, and won’t ever settle for less. As we’ve seen, he’ll go through these holding patterns until he finds a better way, but as he’s proven time after time, he always finds that better way. The last couple weeks in Austrailia have shown us that he’s on his way back, and will undoubtedly be a force to reckon with again.

Ignore his personal life decisions, but put a microscope up to his work ethic and ability to continuously find a way to believe in himself. A year ago, while playing the worst golf of his life, he was asked who he thought was the best player in the world. He stared at the interviewer, paused, took a deep breathe, cocked his head to the right, and didn’t say a word, as his body language said it all. His non-answer said, “Me!”

When you look at your reflection, do you see belief or reasons why it can’t happen?

This little guy is already on his way to 1%.

Dear you,

I’m still here, waiting – it’s been awhile. You used to call on me all the time, but have recently stopped. Why? Every time you talk to me, I help. Each time you write, I give you everything you asked for. Yeah, sometimes it takes longer than you want, but I always come through. You used to be more patient, maybe?

Talk to me.

Remember when you were younger, and you shared me with all your friends and family members? What’s changed? Who told you to stop? At night, the last thing you did before falling asleep was call on me. In the morning, you couldn’t wait to write me, and often tell your Facebook friends about our relationship. Now that Twitter is a big part of your life, you’ll tweet about me, but not often enough. Why?

I made a promise to you a long time ago, that anytime you were serious about me, I’d give you what you wanted. If you proved your passion and discipline, I’d guarantee your success. Has fear of failure lessened our conversations? Has someone told you I was full of crap, or I couldn’t fulfill my promise? Tell those naysayers to kiss my …

I’m yours to have, but you first must commit to me. What do you want from me? Why haven’t you made the decision to take me? Don’t worry about being greedy or immersed in the process of creating more of me, it’s what your life is all about. Talk about me, write about me, and make yourself accountable for reaching me. Tell the world that you expect nothing less than making me live with you full-time.

Let the negative people in your life disappear. Actually, the more of me you see on a regular basis, the quicker they’ll go away on their own. They hate me, because they’ve never committed to having a relationship with me. Let them talk about us. You become focused on taking as much of me as you want. Understand the naysayers are jealous, and can’t imagine risking what it takes to build me. They live to tear you down. The last thing these people want is for you and I to create a long lasting relationship.

Call on me at night. Write to me in the morning. Talk to me.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Your Future