Teamwork

team

Definition

Group of people with a full set of complementary skills
required to complete a task, job, or project. Team members (1) operate with a high
degree of interdependence, (2) share
authority and responsibility for self-management, (3) are accountable for the collective performance, and (4) work toward a common
goal and shared rewards(s). A team becomes more than just a collection of people when a strong sense of mutual
commitment
creates
synergy, thus generating performance greater than the sum of the performance of its individual members.

taken from businessdictionary .com

"It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit. "

~ Unknown

"If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team."

~ Bud Wilkinson

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.-

Vince Lombardi

These teams are considered to be among the best sports teams EVER

• 2007 New England Patriots
  
• 1989 San Francisco 49ers
  
• 1978 Pittsburg Steelers
  
• 1975 Cincinnati Reds
  
• 1984 Boston Celtics
  
• 1985 Los Angeles Lakers
  
• 1998 New York Mets
  
• 1980 USA Hockey Team
  

Growing up children always want to be on " so and so's " team. They dream of being on that winning team, or the team with the awesome coach. They watch with envy as they see the other teams receive their trophy, celebrate another victory, score another touchdown. I believe that this is normal behavior. Out of all of my years of coaching soccer, baseball, football and wrestling I do not think that I have ever had a player come up to me and say he hopes our team isn't good. Even the most elite of athletes in the world will experience defeat. Yesterday, The University of Alabama's football team was playing The University of South Carolina is a huge football game. There has been all sorts of hype about the quarterback for Alabama. He had not lost a football game that he started since he was in 8^th grade. As fate would have it, that first loss came yesterday. Did the quarterback lose the game? NO, the Alabama Crimson Tide did.

As my children have all participated in different sports and on different teams we have had great coaches, and not so great coach, winning teams and losing teams. What made the good coaches good? The good coaches were the ones that brought the teams together in purpose. They had a goal that the coach got all of the players to buy into. He saw the greatness that they could achieve by working together. When those teams were all working towards a unifying goal, they did not mind sacrificing for the good of the team. In soccer, only one person kicks the ball into the net… but the rest of the team provided the support and passes to get to that point that the shot could be taken. In football, only one person can catch the ball or run the ball in for the score, but there were 10 other people on the field each fulfilling his responsibility for that score to happen.

When a coach drafts a team, each player is selected because of the skills, talents, traits and abilities that they will contribute to the team. Some players are specialized and some players are utility players, but the coach saw something in them that would help his team attain its goal.

The name of my blog is "Team Johnson". My team is different than the traditional team, I didn't get to draft or pick my team. If I had picked my team, I would have still picked the team that I have. My team is made up of wonderful players that I would take onto the playing field of life any day of the week. Is my team perfect? No, Do they have the best coach in the league? Not even close. But I see the potential of what they can become. My challenge is to get them to buy into the greatness that can be achieved by bonding together and working together to achieve our goal. As coach, it is my obligation to not give up on my team during the hard times. I have to be willing to put the individual time in after practice to help the player that needs my help.

Take a look at your own team… are you ready for the big game? Let your team know you love them and will never stop believing in them.

Fight On!

Maybe Every Cloud Does Have A Silver Lining

This weekend is the Semi Annual Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Saturday night they have a special session for all boys and men age 12 and up. I had planned on going with my dad and my oldest Son. As a 13 year old boy, spending 2 hours on a Saturday night at a church meeting was the LAST thing that he wanted to do. He argued with me for the 30 minutes it took him to get dressed telling me that this was HIS weekend and HE should be able to do whatever he wanted. I reminded him that I had let him spend the night at one of his friend's house just the night before. Then, he and I had spent the afternoon relaxing at his brother's football game. Of course THAT didn't matter to him. As we walked over to the church where we were going to watch the meeting I had to hear him telling me over and over how stupid it was and why he shouldn't have to go. We went in and sat down and the complaining continued. After another 10 minutes of this negative discourse, I had reached my limit. I got up and left without saying a word. Two hours later when he came home I was interested to hear what he would have to say. Lo and behold, he told me how much he enjoyed the meeting. He actually paid attention and got something out of it. I couldn't help but smile at this tender mercy.

Throughout her teenage years, my oldest has made some good friends, and some not so good friends. I think that is typical of most teenagers. She had one girl that she was friends with that started making some bad choices and was not that good of a friend or influence. She was not allowed to hang out with this girl and they had lost contact for a couple of years. Somehow they got in touch on Friday. She asked if it was ok to go hang out with her. Before I could say a word, she said "Dad, I won't get in trouble. If she starts doing something that makes me uncomfortable, I will leave right away. I have learned my lesson." I couldn't help but smile.

Last night she had made plans to go get an ice cream after work with a young man that we know. A girl that works with my daughter told her some bad things about this boy. Now, knowing this boy and his family, these things she had been told seemed hard to believe. So…. When he picked her up, she simply told him what she had been told and asked if these things were true. He assured her that those things were untrue. They went on and had an enjoyable evening.

I am so grateful for my children. I love them. We have our share of difficult times ( sometimes it seems like more than our share ) I will keep on looking for the good that they do, it gives me hope.

Fourth and Goal

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Last night as I was coaching my son Scout's football game our defense had their backs against the wall. The score was tied and the other team had 4^th and goal. I gave them my final words of encouragement and instruction and I left the huddle. Back on the sideline I couldn't help but wonder, are they up for this? Did I call the right play? Did I have the right players in the right positions? This whistle blew, the play started… it was out of my hands now. Unfortunately, the other team scored. The officials embarrassed themselves by not calling a blatant penalty.

 

This morning I couldn't help but draw a comparison between this game and Life. Our Coach (Heavenly Father) has put us in the game at crunch time. He has faith in his team; he knows he has the right players in the right positions. When the whistle blows to start the play, how will we react? Do we know what to do? Have we "practiced" enough to recognize what play the other team is doing so we can make the play?

 

Heavenly Father has given us a playbook to serve as a guide. We can study the plays of those that have gone before us. We don't have to make the same mistakes that they did. The game plan is perfect, if we follow it, we will win. As with any football game, there will be penalties, incomplete passes and plays that don't make any yardage. That does not mean the game is over, we get to huddle up and call another play. How lucky are we to have UNLIMITED time outs in our game. We can call time out and talk to our coach whenever we want to.

 

As we get ready for our next big game ask yourself, "Am I ready?" If the answer is no, talk to your coach, read the playbook, and talk to the rest of your team. Just as 1 person cannot win a football game by himself, we do not have to play our game by ourselves. We have a huge team to help us block, run, and tackle and ultimately celebrate our victory with us.

 

The Ref is blowing his whistle, time for the next play

Ready…………..BREAK !

5 minute free write

Ok, I have fallen off of the blog wagon. Never really have anything to say or the will do put it down. So, I am going to try 5 minutes of free writing and just let it go.

Life is still full of ups and downs. The ups: Bailey bringing home a perfect report card. ( Something I never did) Bellas soccer team is still undefeated. Those girls are fun and are starting to get it. ( I hope)

The downs: I still haven't found a job, one of the kids is stealing from the rest of the family, I have a child abusing the internet, kids still taking off and not telling me where they are, my dad is having an even harder time walking and talking, I get frustrated with our ward on a local level, My good intentions never make it past my brain and get put into action, my desire to get in shape and lose weight is constantly getting off track. I never seem to be able to stay motivated.

I strongly believe that the first thing that needs to happen is for me to find employment. Once that happens, then I can get secure on my feet and possibly look to allow someone into my life. My family struggles without the influence of a mother. I can only do so much, and it is very evident that what I am doing is not enough.

My five minutes is up.. so I will leave it here for now.

I give up

I am starting to think that none of this is worth it. Life is what it is.

Class is in session

 

 

This ended up being a good, but not perfect week. I would be lying if I said it was without struggles and that life is perfect. I have so far to go, this is going to be a long process. I can say that I have started to feel a difference as I have prayed and read from the scriptures daily. That has helped to give me something to draw towards and to look forward to. I still worry about my children, and my responsibilities to them. What more can I do? How do I help them develop a closer relationship with their Savior? I know I am failing them in many ways, but I cannot give up.

I was talking to a friend yesterday that was feeling the weight of parenthood and felt her children were paying the price for her mistakes she made previously. I told her that this life is a classroom; we cannot sluff class, we have to do our own homework, no one can do it for us. I really do believe that. We have been taught and given the perfect example, and then we have to show that we have learned and are learning how to follow the path that has been laid out for us.

I hope that as I continue to strive to strengthen my relationship with Christ that I will be able to be a better parent.

Another Day

Today was another rough day. It started off well. I worked out and helped my sister move; my morning prayer was as afterthought as I was rushing out the door. I also didn't get any scripture reading in this morning. The children are home from school this week on spring break, and the weather has been rainy and snowy so the kids are getting cabin fever. Bailey started in with his usual sassy mouth disrespectfulness and once again I lost it.

When he gets like that, it is so hard to get him to calm down and be reasonable. Unfortunately, I didn't act like the adult who should be in control of the situation.

This evening was not bad and I was able to get some scripture reading done.

I want to do the right thing and be a righteous leader in my home. I have so much responsibility to raise my children to know what is right and to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know I cannot do it n my own. I have to be both mom and dad. I need to be able to rely more on my Heavenly Father to help me and give me the strength I need.

Easter Morn

Friday night I had a surprisingly wonderful evening. I went to a get together of other single LDS people. We had so much fun just enjoying each other's company. Toward the end of the evening there was a nice spiritual discussion. It was nice being able to draw from the strength of others and from their experiences.

Saturday was General Conference for the LDS church. As always, it was a wonderful day. I really enjoyed listening to the speakers. Elder Bednar spoke about having more discussions in our homes about the Book of Mormon with our children. I hope that as I am striving to live a more Christ centered life I will be able to touch my children and have them feel of our Saviors love for us.

This morning is a beautiful Easter morning. I awoke to a snow covered yard. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I don't think I can even fathom how much he loves us. He submitted himself to his Father's will because he loved ME. He suffered in Gethsemane for ME. I think of how frustrated I get with my children when they act disrespectful towards me. I have heard myself say "I do so much for you, and this is how you treat me?" I liken that to the way Father in Heaven must feel. That thought brings home the love our Father has for us.

I know that my redeemer lives, and loves me too….

WOW

Wow

Yesterday was a real struggle. I started off the day by reading some Easter related scriptures and I watched Elder Holland's talk "None Were With Him". That was about the last good thing of the day until late in the evening. I got into a tiff with a cousin that really got into my head. When the kids came home from school I got into it with Scout. He doesn't have the best judgment when it comes to picking friends. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him hang out with one of his friends that I don't approve of. Unfortunately I really lost it.

It wasn't until later after I had talked to a few friends that I was able to clear my head a bit and think clearly. Before I went to bed I read some more from the Gospels in the Bible. I ended my day by praying for forgiveness and for strength to make tomorrow a better day.

Experiment on the Word

" But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words" Book of Mormon Alma 32:27

I am mortal. I make mistakes. I have lapses in judgement and do not always do the things that I know I should. I do know that when I am living a Christlike life, things go better in my life. I am going to experiment on the word. I am going to focus on doing all of the basics in order to bring peace and understanding to me and my family. I cannot expect to reap the blessings of the atonement and God's love when I am not doing what he asks of me.

I have faith that I will find joy and peace by doing what I know is right. I will be recording my thoughts on here.