Letters to Holden and Nolan

hey there little guys…

if you don’t realize this by now, you will soon enough.  sports plays a pretty big role in the farra world.  it always has and it probably always will.

when they were just your size, your daddy and your uncle corey and i loved going to games and following our favorite players.  i always tried to help them follow guys that were not just good players, but were good men and women, too.  i wanted them to see their sports heros as examples worth imitating in life, as well as in the games they played.

this has been a bad week for sports heros.  a really bad week.

when you get older and listen to stories or when you read about sports history, there are two names from this year that will be really famous.  but not for good reasons.

manti te’o is a great football player who played for notre dame university.  and all of his greatness will be forever tarnished because he lied.  rather than simply telling the truth about something really embarrassing that he did, he told a lie to cover it up.  and then another lie.  and then another.

he won’t be remembered as the inspirational leader of a great team…a tireless worker and a fierce competitor.  he’ll be remembered as a guy who tried to cheat the system and manipulate people and emotions for his own personal gain. it’s a really sad story.

we also learned this week about a guy named lance armstrong who would have gone down in history as the greatest bicycle rider ever.   years ago, was accused of cheating to become the best.  and for years, he denied that he had cheated.  year after year, he maintained his innocence.    on top of everything else, he has used his success make millions of dollars for himself and his own business.  

but this week, he was exposed for being a cheater and a liar.  and he admitted it.  he admitted he told lies on top of lies…to cover up the lies that he had told.  and those lies finally caught up with him in a very public way.

so here’s today’s lesson:  tell the truth.  any time.  all the time.  the whole truth.  

you’ll be tempted to tell lies to stay out of trouble.  or to make yourself look better.  or to get the advantage over  others.  you’ll be tempted to tell lies to get ahead…or get what you want…or to get people to like you.  don’t believe it!

sometimes telling the truth is painful and it may cost you something really important.  sometimes telling the truth may hurt the people you love or make people really mad.  sometimes telling the truth will feel like the most difficult thing you have ever had to do.

but tell the truth anyway.  your reputation as honest young men is something you never want to lose.  trust is the most valuable gift you can offer someone.  “you can trust me to tell the truth” are words that will never fail you.

ever.

grow wise, grasshoppers.

papi

#lies #reputation #truth