Retirement or Quitting?

“Your last impression is your lasting impression.”

                           ~David Dusek

               Rough Cut Men, Founder and President

            Youth soccer is similar to rugby. It's two teams from one huge amoeba that moves in unison up and down the field until one ingenious boy or girl decides to take a shot on the goal, which is unattended since the goalie is in the scrum mix with the rest! 

When Colton was a little boy playing co-ed soccer it was no different. Recreation soccer rules were that no team kept score, there were no winners, and the referees were teenagers out to make a few dollars after school. I refused to coach since the temptation to win was too great. I opted instead to attend every game and cheer Colton on to play outside the amoeba.

One of the parents was a graphic artist and paid out of pocket to make trophies for everyone on the Kelly Green Team (teams were named by color). Did the children demand a trophy for playing on a team their parents funded? Did the children demand that we not keep score to prevent hurt feelings?

No. The parent did that. We are to blame. Recently I heard a term for the parents of this generation: Bulldozer Parents. They remove all obstacles hindering their children from anything causing confusing, perseverance, or hardship. If I can protect little Johnny from Harm’s way he’ll be free to grow up as a healthy, well-adjusted man. 

Wrong. Little Johnny will grow up to be an entitled, spoiled, maladjusted male who refuses to accept responsibility for his actions!

These parents have the audacity to bulldoze the responsibility for their son or daughter’s actions by word-smithing mistakes and poor decisions to sound better than they are, “He’s not quitting. He’s moving on to something better.”

I was tailgating before one of Colton’s Linfield football games (Colton was the starting punter as a true freshman) and started up a conversation with another man. He was one of the organizers of the parent tailgate party and was dressed in true Wildcat fan fashion. 

Then I asked the question every parent asks, “Who is your son and what position does he play?”

His answer stunned me, “Oh, my son doesn’t play on the team anymore. He couldn’t maintain his grades to stay eligible, so he retired two years ago.”

What did I just hear? Did I hear the word “retire”? For real?

Hold on one second. This young man refused to do the work required to earn the privilege of playing for the team with the longest winning season streak in college football, and you just called it “retirement”?

So, I Googled the word and here’s the first definition that came up, “to leave one's job and cease to work, typically upon reaching the normal age for leaving employment.”
Sadly, I’ve heard this word used to describe quitting a half a dozen times in the last year. It’s the new buzzword for quitters. What’s wrong with us? What have we become? When will we accept responsibility for our actions and the one’s of those we love?

Call it what it is. Quitting. Stop pacifying the throw-in-the-towel mentality that’s hit epidemic status and start holding people accountable for their actions! 

Throw obstacles in the way of your children. Show them how to use a bulldozer. Then watch them knock down every obstacle in their way with guts, determination, and perseverance.

Let’s look at a man who refused to be broken down by life’s unforeseen obstacles.