He’s been doing it for decades. It’s helped him make it to 88—88 years in a world that tried to break him, that discriminated against him, that made him an orphan, that threw every obstacle it could in his way.
But here he is, every morning, putting his two feet on the ground next to the bed and saying:
“Okay, George, you have two options today, and only two. You can be happy, or you can be very happy.”
As George Raveling elaborates in his incredible new book What You’re Made For: Powerful Life Lessons from My Career in Sports, he “starts with this simple but powerful choice every morning” because “it’s a reminder to myself that I have the power to set the tone for my day, to choose the attitude and mindset that I’ll bring to whatever challenges come my way.”
While so much of parenting feels out of our control—schedules, tantrums, illness, life’s constant surprises—we can always control one critical thing: our mood and how we show up for our family. Every morning, just like George, we have the power to make that fundamental choice. It’s not just about how we feel internally—it’s about how that energy flows through our household, shaping our children’s understanding of the world and their place in it. By setting this example, we’re teaching them resilience, showing them how to face life’s challenges with grace, and creating patterns that will echo through their own lives long into the future.
Our kids are either suffering or benefiting from our moods and emotions. Which is why we have to constantly make the choice to be happy or very happy.
P.S. George Raveling’s book What You’re Made For was co-written by Ryan Holiday and is more than a memoir from one of the most respected basketball coaches alive (seriously, how many books do you think Michael Jordan writes the foreword to?).
No, What You’re Made For is a manual for life—full of surprising and powerful methods to unlock your potential from a man who shaped the careers of so many legends…and has done so much for so many people.
We have copies available over at the Painted Porch. Head here to grab yours today!
