Ok sports fans. The King has departed. As an avid Lebron fan, I was looking at his free agency from both sides. I guess I kind of hoped that he stayed in Cleveland, his birthplace and the only place that he had known. I also understood that he didn't have a chance in hell to win a championship there, so I was glad to see him leave and go somewhere where his chance to succeed was greater. All day I have been reading reports and the going theme is that Lebron James is now disloyal. His former boss, Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has posted on the team's website that Lebron is a coward, disloyal and he even went as far to say that Lebron quit on the team in the playoffs. All I can say to that is WOW!!! Since Gilbert became the owner of the team, the team has increased its revenues by over 100 million dollars. Do you think people really came out to see Boobie Gibson? Mo Williams? Big Z? Or even Shaq? No, they came to see The King. So in my mind, he doesn't owe the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert or even the state of Ohio anything else. He has done his part. Loyalty.
Writing this post has made me self reflect a little bit and I think back to a conversation a great friend had with me. How far does loyalty really take you if you aren't truly happy? And does leaving a place to pursue your dreams or goals really make you disloyal? I think back to people that I know that are great musicians and grew up playing in churches. They would stay with this church, even though it may be dead, no life, due to loyalty. But when they wanted to leave and pursue THEIR dreams, talks of DISloyalty or disappointment would arise. I have seen many an artist, musician, singer grounded because they feel that loyalty trumps their aspirations. Good people don't want to disappoint others. It's a character flaw. You want to please and accomodate everyone, but you lose yourself in the process. Following this year's NBA has made me realize that maybe it's time to branch out. Pursue the dreams and ambitions that we have at 100% without worrying about who will be disappointed because we are not doing it THEIR way. My fear is one day waking up and realizing that in all of days of being there for everyone else, pleasing everyone else, being loyal to everyone else, I was never Loyal to me. That's the TRUTH and I'm sticking to it. Have a great weekend and remember, Love God, Love you and Love people.
