Over the course of the 2015-2016 academic year, parents and students will notice a new campaign within our athletic department called “FPD Right Now.” The focus will be on perseverance and determination, forgetting past mistakes and focusing on how you can improve today. Below is the story behind the campaign written by FPD Athletic Director, Greg Moore.
The Apostle Paul was, and still is, and inspiring story from many different angles. Like many of us, Paul led a life that changed along the way and challenged him at every turn. In Athletics, we often speak of things like “adversity” and “challenge” as we seek to inspire and motivate our student-athletes to achieve successes that were only realized after significant perseverance and hard work. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he writes this in Chapter 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Paul acknowledges that his quest to be more like Christ – to better serve and represent Him – is something that requires his constant focus on the present moment. That focus is distracted by dwelling on things of the past, and that focus is blurred by thinking too much about what’s still coming. Paul doesn’t say that he will press on in the future, he says he is pressing on Right Now!
I think this is a valuable lesson for our student-athletes to learn. Whatever has happened in the past – good or bad – is only of service to us because of the lessons learned from it or the sweet memories we can enjoy from having been a part of it. Certainly, there are times when we should celebrate days gone by, like at Homecoming or reunions, for example. Thinking about our future – even our eternal destiny – is good for keeping a big picture perspective in front of us as a compass and goal, but it too can rob us of the moment in which we currently find ourselves. It’s good to have goals and be guided by the hope that springs eternal in all believers called Paradise, but again, waiting for that to come with no current action or progress is detrimental for what we could be doing right now for positive impact and gain. It is the current moment, the present, the Right Now, that I believe demands most of our attention.
To that end, our Athletic Department endeavors to re-focus our student-athletes on the Right Now! We want our students to honor those who came before us, and we want them to have dreams for the future that pull them forward. We also want, however, for them to direct the majority of their attention to the gift that they all have today, the Precious Present. We want them to understand the concept of getting better- Right Now. We want them to understand the value of setting the course of their lives on a great path – Right Now. We want to be the best coaches we have ever been in our lives – Right Now. As such, we can teach and encourage each other to “forget that play in the past” and focus on this play Right Now. In 3rd period English class, what am I doing to feed my knowledge Right Now? In chapel, what am I doing to feed my soul Right Now? The application is wide reaching, and yet still simple enough to keep us focused on what matters – Right Now. Grasping the Right Now has implications for our future – and so does disregarding the Right Now. May God bless us as we learn these truths together next school year.
Visit the official website of FPD Athletics at www.fpdvikings.com
Follow the Vikings on Twitter at @FPDVikingSports (use the hashtag #FPDRightNow) and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fpdathletics