“Isn’t it Ironic; Don’t you think?”
I have just about been in Holland now for 2 months, time is cruising right along; training sessions at the club are far and few in between, tournaments are coming to close; yet, I am still finding myself in situations I could only dream of having.
Don’t you ever wonder why things happen when you they do? Or haven’t you heard the cliché, “That was ironic?” We hear it all the time, even in songs, we all remember Alanis Morisette’s one CD wonder with her hit, “Isn’t it Ironic, Don’t you think?.” True or not, we all have moments we will never forget….
For example, Last year I was struggling if I should follow my passion in becoming a soccer trainer or head into real estate as I know I would be very successful in that line of work. I bumped into a man as I was heading out of Staples on a warm sunny day to do my weekly business run; he asked me “Ezra what going on, How are you?” Usually, I just say the line, “O busy as usual” Again another cliché “How are you”, is just a superficial way of being polite; we both know most do not really care. I had not seen this man for a long time, but I respected his opinion, for some reason I quickly told him my dilemma. Then all of a sudden I caught myself rambling, he said he had to go, ( I would have been bored too to hear myself ramble) as we walked our separate ways, I went on with my day. Except from about 20 yards away, he turned and yelled at me, “Ezra! Lifestyle, remember lifestyle!” I started to yell back but he had already turned away and out of sight. Lifestyle, remember lifestyle I kept repeating to myself. It then hit me with a ton of bricks, so simple yet so difficult, happiness or money? It became very clear, I would dedicate the best hours of my day (9-5 Monday to Friday) to following my passion of becoming the best soccer trainer I could…
In saying that,
I went to a coaching clinic in Tillburg, where I saw coaches from Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV put on sample practices sessions. I took lots of video, and learned many new drills. However; what hit me the most, was lunch…..
Over the last cpl of weeks, I had been brainstorming what path to take in my career as a soccer trainer. I think about all areas of soccer while ensuring I am happy in my personal life. I weigh out all the pros and cons and move forward with confidence from there. At times, I am on the brink of being shy and not believing in my thoughts to being confident and excited about moving forward. That last statement could also be portrayed as needing an “ironic” moment to occur to reiterate my shy thoughts as sometimes I dream too big…. As I know I want to be a soccer trainer; I felt I was not sure where my clear thesis lies, until I had lunch that day!
During lunch I had bread, Dutch people love there bread! As I was finishing up we had some time to kill before out next presentation so we walked around and looked at various soccer exhibits. Marco van Lochem introduced me to a man name Dwight, we ended up talking for few minutes.
In that few minutes, I found out Dwight had played soccer in Edmonton in the 80’s, after checking some archives I believe it was the Edmonton Drillers. We threw around names such as Dale Mitchell (National Coach of Canada), Bruce Wilson to name a couple. Dwight gave me some advice that struck a chord, it was like putting in that last piece in a 1000 piece puzzle, the picture became clear.
I did not know who Dwight was until after, he is currently the Asst. Coach of PSV, and former coach Grampus Eight (Japan), El Jazihara (United Emirates) and FC Groningen.
And NO, I will not tell you what he told me. J
I am feeling more enlightened then ever, my thesis is clear, my desire strong…..the rest is best unsaid, as actions speak louder then words, I guess we all, myself included, will have to wait and find out….