The true testament

The true testament of someone is how they act when the going gets rough.
The true testament is how they respond to adversity.
The true testament is to believe in yourself when no one else does.

Sorry guys I know I haven’t been able to be on here much in the past week. On Saturday I got an MRI on my knee to see exactly what is going on and causing me endless pain when I jump. I am getting in touch with my body once again to get on the same page to see if it will allow me to have my first healthy season in 8 years. This is my testament for when the going gets rough, how I am going to deal with adversity, and when only a few people believe in me. I will rise to the top of the highest pinnacle of success when the times are right!

Detachment:

Is being detached a bad thing? Being told you have to think only about yourself up until the next Olympic Games is that a bad thing? What happens when that Olympic Games is over does the cycle stop or does your brain only know how to function under only caring about itself? I am not a selfish person, but I do have selfish tendencies: While focusing on something athletic I can care less about what is going on in the real world. While cooling down from a hard day’s work gossip is the last thing that strikes my interest. Playing a sport where everything relies on me and the countless hours I had put in preparing for the competition I see myself only caring about what happens to me instead of what happens to others out there.

What do we do with our life after things have been compromised?

This is a peice of my Senior Thesis
On Oct. 17, 2004, at about 2:30 a.m., I received a phone call from my mom, crying worse than I have ever heard from her. She explained to me that I needed to come home and that it was a family emergency. I hung the phone up, took my roommate's car, left my dorm and went straight home. I remembered telling myself over and over, "I hope nothing has happened to my mom or my little brother. Please, God, let nothing happen to them." As I pulled up to my house, I saw that every light in the house was on. I ran inside, and noticing that the back door was open, I peeked my head out and saw my mom sitting in a chair, crying. Without any question, I just hugged her and told her everything will be OK. She then turned to me and said, "Norris, your dad was stabbed to death by his girlfriend."

Giving back...

A few days ago I started a job as a mentor at the Seattle Juvenile Detention Center. It amazed me what people do at such a young age, some people practice their skills in classrooms, athletic venues, and some practice theirs with negotiating a drug trade, or putting their minds together to get into someone’s house and taking things that do not belong to them before they wake up or can hear them. It made me highly uncomfortable to see kids/teenagers walking into a courtroom handcuffed and others sitting in court showing the emotion that they just don’t care what happens next. At times I felt like grabbing them and shaking them hoping they open their eyes and see that there’s a world out there. I also thought of my little brother and what I would have done if that were him. I left the courtroom and spent the rest of the day thinking of ways to better myself. I’ve realize it starts with the people I surround myself, and personal actions.

Getting to know me

My name is Norris Frederick a 24 year old African American from Seattle, Washington, once a product of my environment and now living my life through feet and inches. I started this blog to expose myself and my feelings towards track and field (my professional career) but I want this to be more than just another athletic blog. I want this to be an outlet where I can be asked advice and also be given advice to help better myself as an athlete as well as a person.

“What makes you different” is a question that I am asked all the time the answer I give is a lot different than how I really feel. The truth is what makes me different than most is I am better at hiding my feelings towards certain things than others. Am I afraid of failure? Yes, but I will also never let myself fail. Am I insecure about a ton of things in my life? Yes, but I will only admit to the obvious ones. Is track and field my life? No, I know it’s a stepping stone to some place that is better for me later on down the road. I am not an average person doing average things. I am an extraordinary person doing extraordinary things.