Character

"You need to strive to be better than everyone else. I didn't say you needed to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. That's what character is. It's in the trying." - Coach Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

Each of us have mental and moral qualities that are distinctive. It's what creates our individual character. It's who we are when nobody is looking. It's what we do when we 'do the right thing'. It's what separates the achievers from the overachievers. It is not measured by title, financial wealth or status in life. It is who we are at our core. It is our soul. It is the only true currency that each of us have that matters. The drive to always do our best. To leave it all on the field. To give 200% and to ask 'how high?' on the way up. Those are the building blocks of a strong character. You don't always have to win, but you have to always do your best. That's a hard lesson to learn when you've worked your ass off and you don't win. We set expectations that it's about the winning but, with time and experience you understand that the satisfaction is in the trying. Only you answer to yourself on how hard you tried and if you gave it everything that you could give. If you answer 'yes' then you know you met your standards of expectations. The measure is in the trying but, it sure feels good when you win too.