In My Time Alone

Now there are a lot of times where we feel lonely...And in those times, we can try to search for something or someone to get us out of our loneliness...Truth is, we need to search for ourselves.

Loneliness is something we can all struggle with; we can be sitting in our room or we can even be around a group of people. Some of us believe that we are not cool or normal if we do not go out on Friday and Saturday nights. Now I have experienced being alone on these nights and going out on these nights; and I honestly felt more alone when I was out, around a bunch of people.

When I have time to myself, I really try to find out who I am. I get so many thoughts racing through my head, thinking of ways to improve myself and improve other things around me. In those times I am thinking deeply, if I am out trying to have "fun", I am not thinking, I am not improving myself, I am only hurting myself. I believe that if we are complacent, if we are not improving, if we are not growing, we are hurting ourselves. We are meant to grow, it does not make sense for me to say at 22 years old, I am done growing, there is nothing more I need to learn. It does not make sense if you are 16, or 50, or whatever age you are...We need alone time to figure out how to improve ourselves for when we are out in public at our job, in our sport, with our families or with school.

Obviously, being around other people is healthy for us, but it is important that we are around the right people. Because when you are around friends or other people, you can focus more on being entertained and conversations can be one sided where one person talks and one person listens. We do not want to be around people that are going to negatively influence our lives. To some people, it is not obvious that what they are doing is wrong. Because a "friend" or person can convince them that what they are doing wrong, is right. Just because something feels good, does not mean it is right. This is where finding your alone time helps, where you shut out all the outside noise and figure out what is right and what is wrong. Do you REALLY feel good after doing something wrong? Is the good feeling only temporary? Ask yourself hard questions, because it is very rare that other people in your life will do that.

Since high school, I have always done something that my high school coach taught me. He challenged us that every night before bed, to look into a mirror, and ask yourself, did you do your best? I like this exercise because it is a conversation between you and yourself, so there is no reason to lie to yourself, if you do, than that is a whole other issue. But if you try this, and not lie to yourself, you will find out more about yourself. Because we all like to impress our friends and hide bad things from them, so we do not necessarily let people get to fully know us. So there were times where I could not lie to myself, some days I did not give my best, and I would tell myself why and how I am going to do better. Now I live everyday for that moment before bed and more often than not, I am able to tell myself I gave my best. There are days where I will forget to give my best and need to be reminded, but I will never forget to ask myself that question.

We all look in the mirror to see how our hair looks, what looks bad on our faces, how our smile looks, etc. But what about what truly matters? The mirror is not just help us fix our physical appearance, it gives us a chance to look at ourselves and gain a feeling inside of us. Your brain and heart think of things when you look at yourself, and if those feelings are bad feelings, look to fix them. If you feel you are doing something wrong, fix it. Do not believe that you can go throughout your life by getting by with your physical appearances. I know a lot of you do not like change, so you do not change your personality or who you are; but whether you like it or not, your physical appearances will change with age. So look to improve yourself from within, because that is something that can always change for the better. You are not to be known for your physical appearance, you are to be known for the good things that you do. And you will be amazed on how much your physical appearance becomes more attractive when you look to improve your personality and character. I promise you, you will be more attractive than people who look good and do bad.

For me personally, I like my alone time, because I am not alone. I get to talk to God, I get to have a honest conversation with Him. I go to a God that is my answer, that teaches me what is right and what is wrong. No one else can tell me otherwise, if it goes against The Word of God, I ignore it and say it is not for me. There were times in my life where I was surrounded by a lot of people, but completely ignored God. Interesting how in my time alone, I found Him. In my time alone, I talk to Him. In my time alone, He teaches me. But when I was surrounded by people doing wrong things, that is when I really felt alone. If I want to feel good and be entertained, I look for a church before a night club/house party. After leaving the church, I feel a lot better than when I left night clubs/house parties. I get a lot out of church, I got nothing out of night clubs and parties. The goal at church is to find inner peace and learn what is right and wrong. The goal at night clubs and parties is to get drunk and take someone home with you. You will always achieve your goal at church, but you won't always achieve your goals at parties. Say you do get drunk and take someone home with you, how do you feel the next morning? Probably not too good, and if you do feel good, you are going down a road of temporary happiness and true loneliness.

Do not feel bad, do not go try to fit in with people because you think it is necessary. Be yourself, find yourself, and other people will find you. People that will support you, care for you, and love you!

Thank you all for reading! I look forward to hearing your feedback and stories!

Sincerely,
Christopher Edward Perez

Quick Read: I Have A Friend Who...(Inspired by Steve Smothermon, Sr.)

I have some advice for you...if you are sick, don't go to the hospital

Wait, why not?

Because there are sick people there. 

...That doesn't make sense.

Sure it does, you shouldn't be around other sick people if you want to feel better. 

...But, there are doctors there that can heal me and make me healthy. If I don't try to get healthy, then I will always be sick. If I am surrounded by other sick people, we can share stories and encourage each other to fight our illness and get better!

...Realize that we are born sinners...and in order to turn away from a sinful life and repent, we must go to church and learn to live a righteous life. When you are not saved, you are sick. The church is your hospital, the pastors are your doctors. And in the church, you will be surrounded by sinners and imperfect people. But like how in a hospital, patients want to feel better. Church goers realize they are not perfect but are willing to be perfected. If your friend or family member is sick, wouldn't you take him/her to the hospital, and be there for him/her until they get better?

Of course I would. 

So if your friend or family member is not saved, not born again spiritually, and is living a sinful life; wouldn't you take him/her to church and be there for them, support them, and watch them grow? 

This New Year, really challenge yourself to reach out to someone, invite them to church. We can't save everybody, but we can all save at least one!

#IHaveAFriendWho...

ALL IN

We come into the year 2015 with different resolutions and different goals set; however, I have a resolution that could help you achieve your goals with one concept. That concept is, strive to be the best at everything you do. Have total faith that giving your best will lead you to success and happiness.

I understand a lot of  us can be in positions we do not want to be in. So what happens is our attitude becomes poor. Say you are working at a certain company, solely to make money. Meaning you do not love your job, you have a "clock  in, clock out" attitude that leads you to hating your job but you stick with it because you know you need the money. With a situation like this, you STILL must strive to be the best at what you do. Maybe you are a waiter/waitress, strive to be the best waiter/waitress you can possibly be. Maybe you are a cashier at a store, be the best cashier you can possibly be. Maybe you are working a "9 to 5" job that you do not like, still be the best employee you can possibly be.

This idea consists of being a complete person, where you make an effort to be great in all aspects of your life. We are all sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, athletes, employees, teachers, lawyers, doctors, etc. We need to be the best at what we are called to be. For me personally I am a son, so I am striving to be a great son to my parents and represent my family in the best way possible. I am a coach, a teacher, a mentor, a trainer, a Christian; God has called me to be a leader in EVERYTHING I do. I do not want to be a great coach and an average teacher. I want to be a great teacher, I want to gain more knowledge so I can mentor the youth. I want to learn how to improve strength and conditioning for athletes, so I read about how to train athletes to be great and not average. Nothing I will ever do, will be just to make money, I do it to be the best because I promise you, striving to be great will come with great opportunities.

When I was in high school, I refereed games on the weekends. A lot of high school athletes did this, and some of them did not take it seriously. Some of them just wanted to get paid and thought it was an easy way to make extra money. I knew that I was going to get the same amount of money from the guys that did not take refereeing seriously. Which at first it does not seem fair, but I did get rewarded for taking the job seriously. My boss, saw that I was sprinting up and down the court to get in the right positions to make calls and make the right calls. I was not the perfect referee, no one is, but I showed I was taking it seriously and working hard. With that, my boss gave me more games to call, and I called all of the championship games for each division. So at the end, I did end up earning more money.

As a sophomore in high school, the boys' volleyball coach talked to the basketball team about joining the volleyball team. I played volleyball from time to time, but never anything organized. So I had to learn from scratch on the fundamentals of volleyball. I was committed to learning as some athletes were not taking the tryout seriously. Not only did I make the volleyball team after never playing before, I played on the varsity team that same year, up unto my senior year. Through those three years, I earned Most Improved, All-League, MVP, and two school records. One for most assists in a game (62) and one for most serves in play in the season (316).

With these two situations, I want to encourage you to be better at what you are called to do. Some of you may be working a job that you do not take seriously. But imagine if you go into work tomorrow, and the next day, and so on; with a great attitude and a determination to be the best, I am almost 100% sure your boss will notice. If he/she does not notice right away, be patient because the opportunity will come. Especially for waiters, waitresses, bartenders; you want to be the best so you can get more shifts to make more money. You can gain more tips, and if a customer does not tip you well, do not get discouraged! Instead try to find an understanding of why they did not tip you well. I have said it before, you never know who is watching. The better your attitude is, the more you take your job seriously, the more you want to succeed; the more connections you will gain through people that not only could help you out, but want to help you out because they will get a good feeling about you through those aspects.

The second situation consists more of the students and athletes. I first want to emphasize that as a student, you should want to be the best student in your class or even in your school. Can other students have more benefits and advantages to be the best student in the school? Of course, but it is not about having the best situation, it is about making the best out of your given situation. Striving to be the best, and feeling you cannot be best, is still okay. Because believe it or not, miracles still happen, but you have to put yourself in the best situation possible to have miracles work out for you. Secondly, comes the athlete perspective of being your best. I know some of you play multiple sports, and if you do, you should give 100% in each sport you play. I do not believe that if you play multiple sports, one is more important than the other. If you feel that one of the sports you play is less important to you and you do not love it as much, then do not waste your coaches, parents, or teammates time. Because being a part of ANY team, should consist of hard work, dedication, and a perfect effort. As a coach, the players should want to win just as much as I want to win and more. If you do not feel the need to win, then you are not a true athlete. A true athlete does not want the superstar role on a losing team, a true athlete wants a role to do whatever it takes to win games and championships.

Readers, I would not have been able to be a part of a Division I team if I was not all in. If I was not committed to winning, if I did not work hard, if I did not spend hours in the gym by myself; I would not be a coach, a mentor, or a leader. I would not be able to inspire others. The reason why I can motivate people is because I have the stories and experiences to back up my logic. And I will continue to be all in. I do not write these articles for my sake, I do it for people that could possibly get moved or inspired by my messages. I strongly appreciate the feedback, and it warms my heart to see how different people are being moved by one message. I see moms putting my articles on their refrigerators, I see schools putting my articles in their newspapers, coaches from different parts of the country are telling me that they are showing these articles to their players, professional writers are encouraging me to keep writing...I am getting more praise, more opportunities, and more connections; by simply being ALL IN.

We are all called to be greater tomorrow than we are today. Never compare your progress to someone else's. Because I know I am far behind a lot of people in this world, but that will not discourage me to give up and hide. It is hard being great and striving for greatness, but the blessings and opportunities that come with it bring joy, happiness, and peace to your life. Do not be overwhelmed that people around you are ahead of you, instead learn from those people. That way you can use other people's success to help you succeed!

I remember as a kid, I did not really like getting Christmas presents. Of course I appreciated what I was getting, but there was one thing I saw that was happening during the holidays, and that was serving and giving. I saw athletes play Santa Claus for kids, visit children's hospitals, feed the hungry, build houses, etc. And for me, that was one of the main reasons why I wanted to be in the NBA, so I could do stuff like that. I realized I do not need that status, I could have a giving heart in everyday life. So for me personally, I want to be the most unselfish and giving person in the world. And each day I strive to be and I learn how to be just that. I know there are more unselfish people out there, I know I am more unselfish than others. But none of that matters, it is about me being better that I was yesterday and continuing to make my best better. So I encourage you all to add this concept into your New Year's resolutions. Then by this time next year, you can really see how much you have grown as a person; whether it be in your relationships, sport, job, etc. Seek to improve yourself, and you will start to see that you can be somebody more than the average person. You will see that EVERYBODY is given opportunities to achieve greatness!

Thank you all so much for reading and let God bless you with a great year and many more to come!

Thanks,
Christopher Edward Perez

Twitter: @C_P_2
Instagram: @cperez02
Facebook: Chris E Perez

Show You Belong

There are certain things we want and certain places we want to be, but in order to achieve your goals, you have to work for them, show you belong, and prove your worth.

A lot of us have been asked the question, "If you had one wish, what what you would wish for?". People can ask for more wishes, because they know they want more than one thing. Some of us can answer that question, where we believe if we just get that one thing, we will be happy. Say you do get that thing you wanted, it may be a new phone, or a new house, or an advance in your salary. What happens next? Well, you will start thinking of other things you want. I strongly believe that the human mind has unlimited wants. If I gave you 24 hours to create a "Wish List", and you were given everything on that wish list, your mind will still find a way to think of other things you want.

We must set goals in order to achieve what we want, but once we achieve those goals, we must set new goals for ourselves. My first goal going into high school was to make the freshman basketball team. Since 3rd grade I have been playing basketball and I wanted it to pay off. When I got to tryouts, I realized how much better I was than most of the players trying out. I was sure that if I worked hard and showed I belonged on the team, I was going to get a spot on the roster. Me believing that I was better than most of the players, was not going to be good enough, I had to prove I was better and show what I can bring to the team.

Since then, I have constantly set goals for myself. I wanted to make JV, make Varsity, be a captain, play college basketball. I wanted to pass my classes, get a 3.0 GPA, get straight A's, go to college. I want to be a coach, I want to be a head coach, I want to coach at a college, I want to coach in the NBA. With setting these goals, I know that I have to work for them in order to achieve them. Being on a team last year, does not mean you are guaranteed a spot on the team next year. Getting a good grade on one test, does not mean you will get a good grade for the class. You have to continue to work hard on a consistent bases.

God has given you a plan, a purpose rather; along with that purpose, He has given you UNLIMITED potential. Not one human being is limited by their circumstances in order to fulfill God's plan. You are able to overcome being poor, you are able to overcome being small, you are able to overcome school. I believe there is no greater achievement, than doing something that no one has ever done before and doing something people told you that you could not do. In able to achieve that, you have to overcome an obstacle where you had to prove you are worthy. People will write you off with an eye test. If a coach sees that you are short and skinny, he or she will probably think you will not make the team or cannot help them. So what do you have to do? Show you belong and prove your worthy. If you dress a certain way, a teacher can see that you do not care about school and are not intelligent, but yet you can show by your hard work, that no matter what, you will prove that you are smart!

We will all fail and we will all have success, but the way you respond to both failures and achievements, will determine how you live your life. When we fail, we can easily get down on ourselves and give up. The greatest successors have failed because of how they responded to their failures. After you fail, the best thing to do is get an even stronger passion to get better. Whenever I lost a game, or I received a bad grade, I would get a really bad feeling. So I would do everything I could, to learn from my mistakes and get better, so I would not have that bad feeling again. Will I lose again? Will I fail? Most likely, but in order for me to become successful, is for me to not accept I am a failure. The people that have success, have failed MANY times, but they do not call themselves failures. The ultimate fail, is failing and calling yourself a failure.

Responding to success can give a lot of people a sense of entitlement. What I mean by that, is that with success, people will begin to think that they are better than everybody and they do not have to work hard anymore. When you get a good grade on a test, that does not mean you do not have to work hard to get a good grade on the next test. You must learn that, the reason why you received a good grade on the test, is because you worked hard and studied for it. So that means if you want the same or better result, then you have to work hard and study. If you win a game, if you win a championship, that does not mean you do not have to work hard to win the next game and defend your title. If anything, you will have to work even harder because it is a lot harder to defend a title than it is to win it. Because once you win a championship, next year other teams will step their game up to take that title away from you. Just like we are supposed to learn from our mistakes and failures, we are to learn from our achievements as well.

Do not dwell on what you did yesterday, because you can achieve a lot more today. Losses and wins, are not to be thought about, they are to be a learning experience. Never get too down about a loss and never get too high off a win. Because it will effect your next game. You see it all the time in sports, a team can pull off a great upset, but then lose to a team that they are better than. Why does this happen? Is because a team can dwell so much on a big win, that they are distracted in game planning for the next game.

This is how life is, we can achieve great things, but if we dwell on those things, it will be harder to achieve even greater things. In order to build good character, you have to continue to do the right things. You cannot do something bad for your company, then tell your boss that it should be excused because you did a great thing for the company a few weeks ago. This life is not based on what you have you done, it is on what have you done lately? And what you have done in the past, should have the same qualities as to what you have done lately.
 That is what showing you belong is all about. Showing each and every day that you are worthy and not dwelling on the past.

Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton told us that if you are good, you will tell everyone. But if you are great, people will tell you. Let the success be your noise, not your words. Work hard in silence, because the times when I got better, is when no one was watching me. There is extra work I did that my teachers did not know about and there are many hours I put in the gym that my coaches did not know about. But when I had to show that I belonged on the team, I was prepared because I worked hard for those opportunities. Along with my hard work in silence, teachers and coaches would and still do, talk highly of me and recommend me to colleges, teams, and jobs. Like I always stress, look at the bigger picture while you are painting the small details. In order to get the bigger picture, you have to start out by creating these little details.

Thank you all again for reading and I hope this helps with any situation you are in! Enjoy the holidays!

Chris Perez
Twitter: @C_P_2
Instagram: cperez02
Facebook: Chris E Perez

Play To Win

A lot of great coaches will use the phrase, "play to win", and the team will know exactly what that means. "Play to win" is a coach telling his or her team, to not give up or let up, regardless of what the scoreboard says. For example, in a basketball game, if a team is up by 10 points with 4 minutes to go, that coach is telling his or her team, not to let up and give the other team a chance to win. If a team is down by 20, the coach is telling his or her team to not give up and do not go down without a fight.

Throughout my basketball playing career, I have been a part of programs that established a winning culture. When I was in 5th grade, my club team went 15-0 in the regular season, we finished overall 22-1, with that one loss coming in a championship game. My emotions got the best of me because even though we had a great season, the feeling of a loss hit my heart. When I watched Lakers games, I would cry if they lost, because I just did not like losing.

At Centennial, I was a part of 93 wins and at The University of New Mexico I was a part of 103 wins. So winning has been a part of my culture and it always will be. Winning is not easy and does not just apply to sports. Having a winning attitude will help you succeed in whatever you do, but it does take a lot of hard work and a lot of intelligence.

So when you are playing this game of life, play to win the game of life. I know everybody has a dream or a goal they want to accomplish. Usually this dream or goal is developed in our minds and hearts when we are really young. But as we get older, we get people around us that are going to tell us that it is very unlikely that we can become who we want to become. Even family members tell us things that discourage us from achieving our dreams. Should you have back up plans? Of course, but do not turn those back up plans into your primary plan.

Usually when teams are up by 10 with 4 minutes to go, they play to keep a lead instead of playing to win. Meaning they are playing conservative, they are trying to run out the clock, and they go away from the game plan that was working to get them the lead. When you put your back up plan ahead your primary plan, you are going away from what was working for you, you are playing to keep a lead. When you play to keep a lead, the other team will have a better chance to come back and win. When you get older, you may realize your dream is foolish or unrealistic. I know that as I got older, playing in the NBA was getting more and more unlikely. One thing I never did, was lose sight of that dream. Because even though I did not achieve my goal of playing in the NBA, striving to get there and working hard, got my to great place. I was starting to think that I was not going to even play college basketball, but I continued to work hard and sure enough I was blessed with a great opportunity to be a part of a Top 25 Division I basketball team. I have gained opportunities and learning experiences that will help me develop a career.

Now that my basketball playing career is over, does not mean I am going to stop playing to win. It is in my blood, the coaches that I have had, have built me to have a winning attitude that I cannot shake. Even when I play pick up games, I still play hard and play to win because I do not know any other way. When I am offered a job or a task, I do it with a winning attitude and I teach people around me on how to develop a winning attitude. Because if you play this game of life like you are playing to keep a lead, the enemy, the opposing team, will come back and beat you. You do not want to regret not trying to achieve your dream. I have no regrets of falling short of my dream because I have done everything I possibly could have done them with the best of my ability. My new dream is to walk up and down the sidelines in The Pit as a coach, I picture it constantly of leading a team to a championship, to give all of my players a winning attitude, just like my coaches gave me. So now, I have to constantly work hard and do everything I can to get to that position. People are going to tell me I cannot do it, just like how people told me I could not survive 4 years on a college team. But they are not going to phase my strive to achieve my goal.

Keep this in mind...When you strive to get a "C" grade because you think the class is too hard and you just want to pass, what will happen if you fall short of that grade? You get a "D" or an "F" and you do not pass the class. But if you strive to get an "A" and you fall short of that grade, you get a "B" or a "C" and still pass. Also, if you strive for an "A", you most likely get an "A"! I strove to play in the NBA, but I fell short of that and I played Division I basketball. You do not necessarily need a back up plan, your back up plan is when you fall short of your primary plan. And most likely, when you fall short of your dream, you are not going to be too far off from being successful.

Again, do not play to keep a lead, play to win the game. Do not make your back up plan, your primary plan.

Thank you for reading! I hope this article helps or at least gets you thinking of how to develop a winning attitude!

Chris Perez
#PlayToWin

Know Your Role

One of the most important concepts I learned during my basketball playing career, was understanding my role on my respective teams. It was important for me to understand this concept because it taught me how to handle friendships, relationships, and partnerships in the workplace.

When I played basketball in high school, I was not the star player, in fact I never started but one game. I could have went to other high schools in Corona and been a starter. People may think that in order to play college basketball, you had to start for your high school team and be their best player, so they would transfer to a school where that would be possible. I knew going into my upperclassman years that I would not be a starter because of the guards I played with, which were Michael Caffey, point guard for Long Beach State, Gelaun Wheelwright, shooting guard for Cal Baptist University, and Dominique Dunning, small forward for UC Irvine.

So I accepted my role as the 6th man (first player off the bench) and I still had a dream of being on a college basketball team. I never lost the thought of, "knowing my role". I knew that if I showed I was a good team player and a good teammate, I would have a chance to fulfill that dream.

One 7am practice my senior year, Coach Steve Alford watched our practice and later that afternoon, my high school coach told me that UNM had offered me to walk-on (non-scholarship player). This was the best news I had received, knowing already I was qualified and accepted to be a student at UNM, this was a path I wanted to be on. I am sure my high school coach, Coach Josh Giles, said good things about me on how I handled myself on and off the court. Even though I wanted to start and I wanted to be a star player, I trusted Coach Giles that he would lead me to a great path after high school was over for me. Sure enough he led me to the greatest opportunity I could possibly imagine. And it all resulted to KNOWING MY ROLE.

When I got to college, I knew that I was going to have to work twice, three times as hard as the scholarship players. I still had to earn a spot on the team and I spent every single day giving my best to prove that I belonged. In the weight room, I always tried to lift more weight than my teammates. During conditioning drills, I tried to finish first. On the court, I played hard and tough, I never took a possession off because I did not want to give the coaches a reason to cut me. I made sure I did well in the classrooms, I even offered to help my teammates with their studies. I also made sure I was on time and never late to team functions, I would help my teammates be on time as well. During film sessions, I would study the other teams' point guard, because I knew in practice, I would have to be imitate that point guard to make the preparation better for my team. I would go work out on my own or I would stay late after practice to get better. Because even though I knew I was not going to play, I was going to do my best to help my teammates that did. My teammates wondered why I put in extra work, even though I was not playing, even though I was not on scholarship. And it motivated them to work extra as well. I would spend every possession in practice, wanting to make a play. Whether it would be getting an offensive rebound, a loose ball, a steal, etc. I knew that if I made those type of plays, the coaches would get on the other players to not let the walk-on player outwork the scholarship players.

This was a new role for me, but I was prepared for it. I always worked hard and gave it my all. I know that there are not too many people that would sign up for this role. As a matter of fact, I constantly had teammates ask me, "How do you do it? You work hard every day but you don't play."
It was a role I took because I knew it was going to help me handle other things in life.

With friendships, we see that we have different type of friends. What we must understand that as a friend, we play a role in that person's life. I know that my role in most of my friends' lives, is to give them a positive influence when they are feeling down. However, sometimes we think our roles in our friends' lives are bigger than what they are. Some people just need a friend and not anything more. Once you do establish a dependable and trustworthy friendship, then it may go to a deeper level of friendship. But I think what we need to prove to our friends, is that we are going to be there for them no matter what. You may call someone your best friend, but maybe you are not THEIR best friend. Those friendships can be healthy if both people understand that they play a different role in each others lives. Because like what we see in business, the people that are loyal and stick through tough times, eventually get promoted to be something more.

In relationships, we all know that things change when it comes to a social life. All of a sudden, the person we are with is supposed to be your everything and eventually your friends mean less to you. You may feel the need to be with your boyfriend/girlfriend more than your friends. Again, both the boyfriend and girlfriend need to understand the role they have. Friends are important, we all need them and we all are given friends, so we cannot let another person take that away from us. Both need to understand that they are a part of your life, not your whole life.

Happiness comes in all shapes and sizes; we can get a good job, our friends make us laugh, our family is there for us. When in a relationship, people can feel that they should make their significant other happy. Which is a right attitude, but realize that you are not the only source of happiness for that person, other people are going to make them happy as well. So just understand that while you are in a relationship, you are going to become important to the other person's life, but realize that there are still going to be other important people in their life. It al comes down to seeing others happy, even if someone else does it.

Now I am truly starting to get into a working environment, but again I feel I am prepared for it because I have always understood what my role is. Some of us go work for a company, and get bossed around. Most of us do not like getting bossed around, so we develop a bad attitude. But a part of understanding your role, working under someone is going to lead to that, so you have to learn to accept it if you want to get promoted. You may think your boss does not do things the right way, so you protest by not respecting him or her and breaking the rules. They are the boss for a reason, if you work hard enough, you can be the boss and be able to establish your own ideas on how to make the company better. Maybe you are told to do work that no one else has to do, this is mainly because you are new. But in order to earn your spot or job, you may have to do things that you do not want to do. I know that freshmen have to clean up the weight room or they have to carry the extra bags in the airport, that is all to earn your spot on the team. You respect the upperclassmen for their hard work and understand that they had to do the same as freshmen.

We are and we will, continue to have hard times in the workplace, one thing we cannot do is give up. Because maybe the day you decide to quit, is the same day your boss wants to promote you. If you respect your bosses, co-workers, and people who work under you; they will all speak highly of you whenever you need them to. In the workplace, many jobs are given based on recommendations and you never know who will be asked or who you will need.

Thank you for reading! Please give me any feedback you may have! Have a blessed day!

Chris Perez
Twitter: @C_P_2
Instagram: @cperez02
Facebook: Chris E Perez

Who Am I?

I am sure you have asked yourself many times, "What am I doing with my life?" and I am sure this life is telling you that you need to grow up, and fast. But the best question to ask ourselves is, "Why am I here?"

"There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why." -William Barclay

Once we figure out why we are born, we must continue to stay true to that reason. We all have a dream or a passion that has grown in us since we were little kids. I was the kid in the backyard pretending to make the game winning shot for the Lakers in an NBA Finals game. I wanted to play in the NBA. No matter what people told me, I worked hard to achieve that dream because my passion for the game of basketball cannot be matched. Did I make it to the NBA? No but I made it to division I basketball, not bad right? I got to be apart of great learning experiences throughout my path to the NBA. Even though I fell short of my dream, I learned a lot about myself along the away.

After my basketball playing career ended, I looked back and reflected on who I became since I first picked up a basketball at the age of 4. One, I became a WINNER. I was apart of a lot of wins, since 5th grade up to college, I was apart of teams that did not accept losing. Loses hurt, they brought anger, brought tears, brought disappointment; to where I never wanted to lose and have those feelings. Two, I became a hard worker; not only on the court but off the court. If I wanted to play, I had to be smart. If I wanted to play, I had to prove every single practice, game, conditioning workout, weight lift workout; that I belonged. I don't know any other way, you ask me to do something, I will work hard for you. Three, I want to be the best...I want to be the best coach, the best follower, the best leader, the best motivator, the best worker, the best friend, the best boyfriend, the best husband, the best father, the best person. If you don't want to the best you can be, then what is the point? You should want to be the best at what you want to do.

So overall, I identify myself as a winner, a hard worker, and wanting to be the best.

It is up to you, identify yourself, because only YOU know yourself best. You cannot identify yourself based on other peoples' opinion. Be UNASHAMED of who you are! If you live a life based on "right or wrong" and NOT on "good or bad", you will be able to identify yourself through the right things you have done and the wrong things you have done. If you identify yourself on what you do good and what you do bad, you will tend to think the good makes up for the bad. Some people KNOWINGLY do bad things, and know it is wrong, but they think it is okay because they have done enough good. No one will do enough good to make up for wrong things. But people can do the right things and be forgiven of their mistakes. We are to learn from our mistakes, to where we don't make the same mistake twice. We are to live a life of righteousness, to where we continue to do the right things no matter what other people say!

I'm telling you...the best way to figure out what is right and what is wrong..is reading The Bible. Humans could not keep a standard so God set the standard. As long as you follow The Word, you don't have to worry about what others say about you. If someone tells you that you are doing something wrong, but according to The Word you are doing something right, ignore that someone. You are to follow a standard set by the Almighty God who gives you COMPLETE FREEDOM. If you follow His ways, He will set you free and give you eternal life. If you do the wrong things, you become a SLAVE to the devil. There is no in between, you are either a FREE MAN/WOMAN or a SLAVE. Freedom gives you life, slavery takes your life away. It's your choice...many of us do the wrong things, and many of us will continue to do so. But God loves EVERYONE so much, that He sent His only Son to die for those mistakes, die for those sins. He knows that we are born sinners, and He gives us a chance to be born again once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, repent of our sins, then live in complete freedom FOREVER!

I promise you, you will have a better view of your life when you ask yourself the question, "What am I doing with my life?" If you have a Biblical worldview instead of a political worldview, you will better your identity. Don't worry about people liking you, if you do the right things, the RIGHT people will like you. Popularity is not a necessity, having people care for you and support you is what is necessary. Ask anyone, would you rather have people praise you and only be there for your good times, or would you rather have people in your life that will care and support you through thick and thin?

Apart of your identity, is to identify your true friends. Which ones are only there for you sometimes, and which ones are there for you all the time. Be caring and supportive to anyone that crosses your path, but make it a priority to be there for someone that is there for you. Because that is a friendship that can and will last a lifetime. We don't want to spend the rest of our lives with someone that we are just physically attracted to, we want to spend the rest of our lives with our best friend.

It has been awhile since my last post, so I want to remind readers that you do not have to believe in what I believe in. If this does not work for you, ignore it. But if it helps you, I am glad because that is my one and only intention. Never writing to hurt ANYONE, or else everything I write would be hypocritical. Please ask me any questions, I will do my best to answer them. Leave comments, feedback to me is very important, especially on things I need to do better. Also if you have any suggestions on future and potential topics, I am more than open to writing about things that you want me to talk about! Thanks for reading!

Chris Perez