Owning the moment

In my eleventh year coaching minor hockey I noticed yet another relationship between the game and life.
My pregame talk was about owning the piece of ice your position is responsible for in each end of the rink and the other coaches reminded me one period at a time, I say one shift at a time.
I am reminded that is how life is, we don't have to be the best we just need to try our hardest and own the piece of life we are living...one minute, one task at a time.
Effort and believe has been another previous hockey talk that relates to everyday life and owning the moment. Without effort and belief (positive attitude) I would still be in a wheelchair and unable to swallow.
As in hockey and other things in life, if we believe we will fail and do not put out some effort than we will not succeed. If we put in some effort and we have a belief in possibilities of success than anything is possible.
When I was five years old I was trying to break boards with a karate chop and continuously failing, my five year old brain did not believe I could break it. After an hour of trying and failing, an old Chinese guy told me to repeat,"I can do it, I can do it, I can do it" and giving all my effort I swung my best karate chop and to my surprise I broke it! Since this time I have always tried to keep a positive attitude and when I coach I have always hoped that I could sway others from being their worse enemy...a defeatist attitude.
Today I celebrate my 44th birthday and never thought I would make it! I am thrilled to be here to explore the awesome things life has to offer. It is up to us, there are many things we can complain about and many things we can find awesome, we need to own the moment and choose to see the things that make us and others feel better.