Make Green Choices
by Director of Athletics,
Andrew Gavin
In 2020, we were all inundated with the topic of choice. The choices we needed to make for ourselves. The choices out of our control that were made for us. The choices we felt pressured to make before we were ready to choose at all. The choice to vote. The choice to select a specific candidate. The choice to wear a mask or not. To stay home or go out. The choice to assume risk. At UW-Parkside, we saw choices tied to face-to-face or in-person classes. Choices regarding testing. Participating in athletics.
I have been thinking about my choices a lot over the past six months. Even in the midst of navigating COVID and its evolving challenges, we continued day after day to get the same amount of time – 24 hours. I believe some of these intentional choices about how I acted, thought, and used my time have fostered more productivity, progress, and positivity, both professionally and personally.
Last year, in the stairwell that leads to the second floor of the Sports & Activity Center, we displayed a quote that reads,
"Attitude is Everything. 10% of Life is What Happens to Me and 90% is How I Respond to It." I love this quote and how it shapes my mindset around the choices we can make as individuals, teams, and a department. Our attitudes have been tested by 2020, but I hope this quote has continued to impact the choices of our student-athletes, coaches, and staff.Â
While self-reflecting on 2020 a few weeks ago and our individual and collective response as we turn the page to 2021, I came across a couple of people whose words related to choice really resonated.
Martin Jarmond, the recently hired Director of Athletics at UCLA, was featured in an article called "Seeing the Light." Jarmond spoke about a recent moment of self-reflection that he had and a decision he made to start seeing the light instead of the darkness. As part of his words, he said simply,
"I have a choice, and I'm going to choose light."
I also recently read something from Kevin DeShazo, a leadership author and speaker and co-founder of a company called Culture Wins. He highlighted the choices we have when we consume social media and news, he stated,
"Consume things that bring you peace, that give you hope. Better inputs lead to better outputs."
I think Martin and Kevin's words are encouraging what I consider to be green choices. I'd like to challenge us all to
Make Green Choices in 2021.
With Parkside Athletics, we hope recruits Make Green Choices. That means they commit to attend Parkside and become Rangers. Head cross country and track and field coach
Nick Maas, who uses the phrase most frequently, had 28 young men and women Make Green Choices in 2020!
In our house, we talk about green choices all the time with Peyton (4 years old) and Wyatt (3). As we aim to simplify decision making for our kids and teach right and wrong, we should do the same for ourselves. A green choice is a positive choice, a productive one, one that helps others, makes things better, puts you in a good mood, is good for your health, and, of course, a choice that brings fun, energy, and happiness to the lives of you and others.
Below are 10 green choices that I plan to focus on this year. Feel free to put some of them on your list and consider the green choices that will be positive decisions in your life in 2021. Happy New Year! Â
Andrew Gavin's 10 Green Choices in 2021
- Choose to input and output positivity and optimism
- Choose to focus on the solutions more than the problems
- Choose to speak up when your voice needs to be heard on behalf of yourself and others
- Choose to speak less when you have an opportunity to learn and understand
- Choose to share your values and vision more and your opinions and excuses less
- Choose resiliency, to see opportunities when challenges arise
- Choose education and understanding over close-mindedness and bias
- Choose empathy and grace instead of jealousy and judgment
- Choose hope over fear
- Choose love over hate
Â
Â
