Update: Touch The “Fantastic” Line

It has been almost 2 years since I penned Want to be Great? Always Touch the Fantastic Line: a story about how I was inspired by my youngest son and his constant pursuit of excellence. This has been one of my most read blogs, having being read thousands of times.

Since that time, I have traveled extensively — circumnavigating the globe twice — and I have been so moved by people that have come up to me and asked me how “Mitty” was doing and if he was still “touching the line”. I have also came across numerous people that have adapted my “TTFL” mantra into their lives. One particular person is a wrestling and football coach and he said all of his students know TTFL and it is a part of their ethos. All of this is very humbling, thank you all for sharing with me.

If you haven’t read the blog, the gist of TTFL is that true excellence is achieved by those who never cut corners and do the right thing, even when no one is watching and others are doing so with impunity. If you want to read more on my TTFL philosophy, then please read the link above.

Now, what’s happened to Mitty since then?!? Well, Mitty is now 12 years old and has still been pursuing his baseball and basketball passions with the same constant pursuit of excellence. He has also since taken up a love of physical fitness with me and is a regular (and beloved) attendee down at our box, Crossfit Countdown. And finally…. he finally had a growth spurt this summer and now my height-challenged chunky little man is an average height young man that has slimmed down accordingly. And, more importantly, all the hard work he put in before the growth spurt is paying dividends.

He recently tried out for his school team and, not only did Mitty make the starting squad, he was a pace setter during the infamous speed drills from the original blog post. He lead from the front, touching the line every time.

While I am proud of this young man’s athletic accomplishments, he has continued to be an excellent person and has won many awards for his kindness and compassion for others. TTFL is something that touches every aspect of his life.

Will he play professional basketball? Very likely not. Will he make his mark on the world and leave it a better place than he found it? I guarantee it. May we all be able to say the same of ourselves.

Until next time friends, TTFL