Coach Debbie

Two days ago, I got to do one of my favorite things in the world: talk about myself. I sat with Debbie and talked, for 2 hours, about me. She asked me questions, I talked, she listened, then she asked more questions. Through a training program that I'm a part of in Young Life, Debbie is my coach for a year.

Since I started coaching track last year, I've realized that it takes much more selflessness than I originally thought. At least it does if you're really coaching, not just trying to win games. Not that they're mutually exclusive. I never understood how invested you have to be in the people you're coaching. How you have to have vision for them - dreams for who they can be and what they can do. It takes your "success" completely out of your control since the only way really to measure it is the amount of growth you see in a another person.

Maybe this means I'm an exceptionally selfish person, but the good things that people do, with no apparent benefit to themselves, always amaze me. Like why in the world someone like Debbie, who has many other interesting people to talk to and many more interesting things to be doing, is willing to take a few hours each month to be my coach. Someone who dreams dreams for me, sees what I can be, and challenges me to embrace that.