Okay, when I retired, a boy that I had coached was working for Morgan Stanley and he asked me if I wanted to go out to Arizona to coach a team that he was on. There was a 40 and over-year-old team of you know former players from college and high school and stuff like that. So, I went out there and I went out there a second time after that. But I was getting used to the routine of going out there and the following year he asked me if I would coach an all-star team made up of Legends from the past. So, I said, “Sure that sounds great.”

Okay, I was a coach for many years out in the Long Island area and I learned a lot coaching all that time but one incident really sticks out in my mind. I had gone to a clinic and heard a man say this and I carried it on when I was coaching.

Letting go of a best friend. That’s the kind of thing that hits you like a punch to the gut.

It’s like your whole world suddenly gets a little smaller. And the inside jokes, the 2:00 AM, the endless trips to Starbucks that somehow always end up at a Target.

Suddenly, those things feel like a treasure from a different lifetime. It’s wild, too. You never really think you’ll have to let go.

That friend that is supposed to show up for you at 3:00 AM when your life is falling apart. The one you talk to about everything and about nothing.

Summer vacation as a kid – it was pure magic. No school. No alarms. Just the sweet freedom of doing whatever the heck you wanted.

I remember the first day of summer break. It was like the whole world was yours. You’d wake up late. You’d eat cereal in front of the tv, like it was your job, and then make the bold decision to go outside and play.

No plans. No schedule. Just the general vibe of “let’s see what a day takes us.”

You know there’s a moment like a switchboard in your brain that you realize: you are done. You are so done. You are so done with shrinking yourself for anyone.

You spend too much time people pleasing, biting your tongue, and making space for everyone else’s opinion.

But now, now, you’re like “nope.” Nope. I am putting my foot down. I matter just as much as anyone else. And you feel it in your soul. The power that comes from speaking your truth.

You can literally feel the universe backing you up. Like “Yes, keep that energy.”

Hi my name is CC Arshagra and I want to share a story with you about how an emotional child can be broken by what is called rote learning and what rote learning is is that you go to school and uh they give you a one and a plus sign and a two and you give them back a three and they pat you on the head and you're on your way to being educated uh on on on how to learn but by doing what you're told it doesn't give room for thinking feeling or questioning and that at the a at the in second grade is what broke me.

Sometimes, the weight of the world feels heavy, but even in those moments, there is always a spark of hope. Like the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm, kindness — whether given or received — has the power to shift energy in an instant. 

Today, I challenge you to be that light for someone, even if it’s just with a smile or a kind word. You never know whose storm you might brighten.