“Orange Alert, Eat Dirt”! This is one of my favorite sayings from my college years. The funny thing is… I have no idea what it means. We were preparing for a big rivalry game; dressing in the locker room and making sure your uniform fit just the right way, trying to relax or get pumped up, doing whatever made you feel like your best self before stepping out on that field. We gathered as a team for our pre-game speech and my college coach, Al Leonzi (May he Rest In Peace), gave one of the best speeches of all time! He stood at the podium with a clay head of our rival’s team mascot. Coach Leonzi was passionate and fired up… he muttered a few words that ended with, “Orange alter, eat dirt. You gotta get the blue card”! Everyone looked around the room and at each other in dismay. He then took the statue head and smashed it on the floor in a thousand pieces! The room erupted! We exploded out of the room and took the field…we won that game.
I never asked Coach what “Orange alert, eat dirt. You gotta get the blue card” meant; I still don’t know. But what I do know is that passion can beat common sense and talent, when common sense and talent isn’t passionate. I learned that passion, when directed in the right direction, will help you EVOLVE and achieve your dreams. Passion allows big vision, vision will illuminate the small steps necessary steps necessary to achieve, steps lead to a process, and a process leads to success. Be passionate about your life, passionate about your role as an individual, parent, partner, worker, son/daughter, etc. What is your vision for yourself in these various roles? What steps must you take to achieve that? What is your daily process to being the best partner, parent, and worker you can be? Currently, what are you most passionate about? “Orange alert, eat dirt”! Do you have the blue card? Share your Thoughts with me at www.facebook.com/menevolvingnow or www.twitter.com/dremenandwomen . Happy EVOLVING!!!
written by: Andre Young
