Live Life Deliberately: Lessons from Jimmy V

 Where I am now, the NCAA basketball tournament is in full swing. This happens every year at this time -- it's known as "March Madness." I'm with family who are obsessed with basketball, and I spent a pleasant day yesterday watching games with them.

While we were watching, an advertisement came on that featured some clips from the 1983 championship game (30 years ago!), which was won by North Carolina State University. No one expected them to win the tournament, and they are still considered one of the great Underdog stories in sports.

But it's their coach, Jim Valvano, that has had a bigger impact on me.

I want to share this piece that I wrote 5 years ago for The Mighty. I had originally called it "Live Life Deliberately: Lessons from Jimmy V." The editors changed it to "What It Meant to Hear Jimmy V's ESPY Speech Again as a Cancer Patient." I like my title better, but that's fine.

Coach Valvano, also known as Jimmy V, eventually became a television commentator, and after a few years, was diagnosed with stage 4 metastasized Adenocarcinoma, a glandular cancer. Shortly before he died, he was given the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the ESPYs, a sports award program. The speech he gave became famous.

I wrote about in the 25th anniversary of the speech. You can read what I wrote by clicking the link above. In my story, you can watch his speech, too. It's worth taking the time to watch it. 

Jimmy V says we should "live deliberately," being aware of the things we do, to make sure we live a full life. There are actions we can take every day to make that happen. It's advice for everyone, not just cancer patients.

I really like his advice, and I like getting the reminder. Every now and then, when life gets busy, or when distractions get in my way, Jimmy V's speech will come into my head. Sometimes I'll take a few minutes to watch the speech again. It's good to have the reminder.

I guess these days we'd call it "mindfulness" -- being aware of our actions and making deliberate choices to do certain things, and not do others. Being overwhelmed by cancer can make that hard.

So I hope you all are able to get into a good place in your minds where you can live deliberately, with mindfulness, making choices that help you live a full life. 

Have a good day.