In Turkey With No Turkey

It's been a couple of years since I've celebrated Thanksgiving in its' entirety with family and friends back at home. At this point I might be use to looking at the last Thursday in November as "just another day" but I still take time out to reflect on all the things I am thankful for. When I think about where I am in life RIGHT NOW, in this very moment, I have things that I was once praying for. Things that I wanted in life but wasn't really sure how I would get it or when it would come, but here we are. From the relationship I am in, to my financial situation, to the my current location... and I'm sure a few other things if I really sat and thought about it all. And even though things aren't perfect, I know that for everything I do have in my life right now, there is someone else out there who might be willing to trade spots with me in a heartbeat. Currently I am in a spot that I have come to at least 3 other times in the last 5 days. When I am overseas I tend to become such a creature of habit. All I need is a spot that allows me to sit in a corner with decent WIFI, has good enough coffee to offer, and at least 2 things on a menu that I am down to eat. So being here in Samsun, Turkey is no different than anywhere else I've been when it comes to falling into this routine. There's a long stretch of road that runs past our gym, all the way down the beach side that is lined with restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. You can usually find me somewhere along the way seated at a table, near an outlet for hours on end after I have finished up with practice. Once my basketball obligations are done for the day and I have some free time, I just like to spend time plotting on how I plan to take over the world. Yes, literally... THE WORLD. Sure I could go home and get in the routine of binge watching a Netflix show but I'd rather try and focus on some other things. Sometimes I sit and reflect on my earlier seasons, wondering where the time went, and what all I did or didn't accomplish during some of that FREE time. In my eyes I didn't do enough, so these days I work towards ALL of my goals and ambitions while the ball is still bouncing. Making sure to put things in place for the summer after the season ends, but also putting things in place for years to come. I've been doing this long enough to see the benefits that come from doing all this work now. Plus, I've had some seasons where I did not go overseas and I was in U.S. for a couple of years doing some other things, main coaching and training. And although I certainly appreciated those opportunities, there are just some other avenues I plan on taking in the future and I want to make sure that when I am truly ready, I will have done a lot of the work leading into it beforehand. Plus, there's no time like the present to focus on the future... especially if you feel like things aren't the best on the court. I may not be able to control everything involved with my team outside of myself, I can however control how I spend my time and the things my mind focuses on. This weekend we play the #1 team in Turkey, a team that is ranked among the top 10 in all of Europe, Fenerbahce. While everyone will be enjoying their Thanksgiving meals around the world, I will be on a 12 hour bus ride across Turkey from Samsun to Istanbul on Thursday. Most people dread that type of travel but I'm already trying to figure out my timeline of things I can accomplish during the trip. From the motivational pep talks and videos to keep myself hype for the game, to the things I'll write about and the emails I'll send out. We'll be traveling late throughout the night, but it's a trip I couldn't be more thankful for.