Always believe in you | Sonya Elliott | TEDxSpokane
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. How do you respond to setbacks or tragedy in your life? The speaker shares her ideas, looking internally, on how to find success and overcome hardships.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Baby Steps
Do you ever have HUGE dreams of what you are going to do with your life? Times when you imagine yourself accomplishing all kinds of amazing things? And then you wake up and realize that the dreams are never going to happen, or at least that’s how you feel.
That was me this morning. Last night I had all these thoughts going on in my head about basketball and my writing and my life. I couldn’t sleep. And when I woke up, reality hit as I thought about what I would need to do to achieve these dreams.
I wish I could say that I sat down and meditated for ten minutes and found my focus, because that would have been a great thing to do, but I felt pretty good about the fact that I didn’t just crawl back into bed, because that is what I wanted to do. You know that feeling of being overwhelmed, when there seems like there is too much to do so you’d rather do nothing? That’s how I felt.
Instead I dove in and started working. I pulled out my computer and sat my butt down. This in itself wasn’t easy because I have a love/hate relationship with my computer. I know that it can do all sorts of great things, but I remember a day when there were no emails, a day when I actually felt like I was accomplishing things during the day. (Sending fifty emails does not feel like an accomplishment to me.) But it is part of life these days, so, there I sat, plugging away at my To Do List so that later, I could get to the good stuff. I was whacking away at the BORING little things so […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Space
There may be days when you feel alone in the world or…
days when you can’t find space to breathe.
WRITING PROMPT: Write about one of these days or use one of the photos above to inspire you…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Together We Are Strong
We had basketball tryouts this week for the high school team that I coach. We pushed the girls hard for three days and I was so impressed with how they responded. Most of the girls, including many that had never played basketball before, and perhaps never been terribly active, didn’t give up even when our conditioning coach put the hammer down. It was awesome to watch these young women push themselves and discover what they are capable of. The mind is a powerful thing and in just three days I hope that some of these girls learned that they are stronger than they ever believed.
A lesson in life, as well as on the court.
What was even better to see than the tenacity on the court, was the girls supporting one another through the tough workouts. There were last season’s varsity players clapping and hollering for freshman, encouraging them to finish their run or to get in one last push up and new players to the program cheering on older players. With this type of attitude on the court, I know that as the girls continue to work together they will become even stronger.
We announced Varsity, Junior Varsity, and JV/C teams last night. We divided into three smaller groups to make sure everyone gets a lot of playing time in games. This is good for the kids and good for the parents, as over the years that I’ve been coaching parents have become more invested in their daughter’s playing time. (Another blog all its own). Basic math alone guarantees more time on the court during games when a team has 9-10 players, yet it’s still practice where the real work and learning […]
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
Blog
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Did I Make The Team Coach?
Basketball tryouts can be tough on everyone involved. As a kid trying out for a team, you’re stressed about making sure you do your best and not allowing your nerves to affect your performance so that you can make the team. As a coach you worry about selecting teams while giving every player a fair shake with a short time period to evaluate, and as a parent you watch while your child weather’s the storm and you function as their anchor, or at least that is the hope.
If you are a player reading this blog, I wish you all the best. Take a deep breath and hit the court with intensity and a positive attitude. And no matter the result, if you give your very best, that is all that really matters. If you don’t make the team or the level […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Peace
I attended a Mama-Needs-A-Refill Mini Yoga retreat this weekend. At the retreat we had a silent break to meditate, read, write, and simply be, and it was during this time that I started thumbing through the book, Creating True Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh. After a weekend that began with such violence in Paris, violence and hate that I just can’t understand, I read the subtitle, Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World, and started reading…
True peace is always possible. Yet it requires strength and practice, particularly in times of great difficulty. To some, peace and nonviolence are synonymous with passivity and weakness. In truth, practicing peace and nonviolence is far from passive. To practice peace, to make peace alive in us, is to actively cultivate understanding, love and compassion, even in the […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Make It Happen
I got a slow start to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but last night I made myself get going, I sat down at my computer and wrote…and boy did it feel good.
Even if you don’t feel like it, you don’t think you have the time to do the things that you love to do, do them anyway, and feel joy seep into your heart.
WRITING PROMPT: Write about something that you love to do.
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