The day of giving and forgiving

There's a lot to be thankful for, I don't know where to start...

I just finished watching the 4th season of East Bound and Down, and man that show is hilarious.

But the show is somewhat weird that Kenny Powers causes all kinds of mischief and the ending of each episode consist of him learning a lesson but carelessly causes trouble all over again...

Anyways I brought it East Bound and Down up because in the 7th episode (although it was a Christmas based theme), the message at the end made me realized that it really came into play in the world we live in.

The episode consists of people hating Kenny Powers (like every episode) and coming to a realization that its about the little thing that matter, and people somewhat forgiving him.

Sure, money is a big part of daily lives, but its not about how much money you have or how many things or how expensive the gift you buy is. It's about always being there for someone, some people, friends, co-workers, teammates, girlfriends and boyfriends, a stranger needing a little help of an umbrella when it's raining, but most of all your family.

I am guilty of not always being around my family since I been back. Most of the time, I am out trying not to be a couch potato, but at the same time, I feel as if I don't spend much quality time with my mom and my sisters.

Yes, we don't always agree on things and we would go back and forth on weather who has to take the dogs for a walk or who get to watch TV in the living room

But they are always there for me, way back from coming to my my little league games, to band and orchestra concerts, to flying all the way out to Iowa to come watch me play.

I cannot give enough thanks to them for supporting me all these years. They are my biggest fans and  I am theirs, whether they like it or not.

So this Thanksgiving, remember all the good times and forgive the bad. We all made mistakes at one point in time. Life is too short to be holding grudges and regrets.

With that being said, I am thankful for all my teammates I have met through all my playing days, all my coaches who gave me an opportunity, the person who helped me get a job at Fox Sports 1, all the co-workers at Fox Sports 1 who make the job a lot easier than it is, the person who gave me a roof when I didn't have anywhere to stay or sleep in Iowa, the Iowa family, to my roommate Rudy Yos for looking over me and everyone else, all my friends and new ones, and last but not least, my family for everything they have done for me this year.

I hope everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Jun

Sacrifices

Just moments ago, I had a talk with my mom about my life moving forward.

Like always, whenever I bring up this conversation, she would start to give me attitude and wouldn't let me finish how I feel about it.

It usually just ends with her just pouting, but today, we made some progress.

One thing I brought up to her, which surprisingly she didn't panic, was possibly moving out of California. She gave me the "uhhhh, really?" look.

Then we talked about one of my best friends since middle school. She talked about how she saw that he grew up as years went on.

Back in the day when we would play catch every other day, play pranks and ride our bikes everywhere, he was always the trouble maker and getting into mischiefs. I, on the other hand, didn't get into any trouble (I think I didn't at least) because I was deathly afraid of my mom's rage when I did get in trouble.

As my mom was talking to me about my best friend and I growing up, my mind started to race with emotions.

I started to realize to myself that I was (and probably still am) selfish at times.

I recall this specific time where I asked him to get me something, which he did.
But when I think about the situation he was in now, I feel absolutely disgusted with myself. And the thing was, he never complained about it.

I hope he would forgive me for it.

After my mom and I ended our talk, I thought about what he has been through, what he's doing now and what he's going to do in the future.

As funny as it sounds, I am pretty jealous of him. But again, he sacrificed things he didn't want to and worked hard to get to where he is today, and I am very proud of him.

I thought about what my mom said to me tonight and looked at myself in the mirror (literally) and told myself that I need to make a change.

I took a huge sacrifice to go play baseball in Iowa. But you have to make bigger sacrifices in the real world, and I feel as I need to take a chance and sacrifice some things to make things happen for the better.

As most of my coaches said, "When there's a runner on first with no outs, YOU sacrifice YOURSELF with a bunt in order for big things to happen."

Time to make big things happens.

-Jun