You talkin' to me?

I'm sure this is going to sound terribly narcisistic, but I'm convinced Jim Tressel and our priest at church were talking to me. Or maybe their messages were aimed at people in my situation.

In the course of the last three days, I'm hearing the same message over and over: Fight the good fight. Stay the course. Good things in life aren't easy.

It was pretty strange hearing it in church, but I've always had a great deal of church sermons fitting well into my life. That's partly why I go. It's not just ages-old text, it's advice on what to do when you're frustrated with your life.

Then, today, at the Ohio State weekly press conference, the Buckeyes' coach, Jim Tressel, went off on a tangent when someone asked him about eliminating the year's wait before playing if an athlete changes schools. A portion of his point was this: Life has challenges. Sometimes you'll want to quit when things seem difficult. What you should learn is to keep pushing through the hard times so you can enjoy the good.

I'm trying to improve my attitude here. I understand there are things I can fix and things I can't. I'm just doing my best on the things I can fix and laughing off the rest of it. I'm putting more value on my free time. I'm willing to give a great deal of myself, but I still need to have something for me.

We'll see how it works. I certainly hope those messages were intended for me, or else I'm investing more of myself in a place that could ultimately bring me down.