Sunday, February 27, 2011

Reading: Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy (pgs. 1-20)

The third book that I will be reading and discussing is Tony Dungy's memoir, Quiet Strength.  Tony Dungy is a devout Christian whom played for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the seventies and served as the head coach for both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts.  Dungy's book is basically his life's story of football, perseverance, and faith. 

In chapter one, Dungy foreshadows content later in his book by describing his departure from Tampa Bay after he was fired as the head coach for the Buccaneers.  He describes the situation as confusing, yet he always relied on God for guidance and support.  He knew God had a plan at the time, but he did not know where God's plan would lead. 

In chapter two, Dungy describes his background with his family.  He has several siblings and he had two extremely loving parents.  He describes his mother as a teacher, both as an occupation and as a real life mentor.  She was very athletic and most likely contributed to Tony's athleticism.  Tony's father was different than his mother in certain ways, such as the sports he was involved in, but he was similar to his wife in the morals that they shared.  Dungy's parents provided him and his brother and sisters with a strong base of faith and core values.  Dungy describes differences he had with his siblings, as he was involved in different activities than the his brother and sisters.  He played sports constantly, and his family and time period allowed him to play in far away places with people much older than him.  Dungy truly belives that his parents gave him eternal value in the faith they gave him and the values they showed him day after day. 

After reading this section of Dungy's book, I truly feel in line with Dungy's beliefs and opinions.  He believes that his parents provided him the values he needed for his entire life.  I agree with his statement.  Dungy's parents seem to be the ideal parents in my opinion.  I know that no parents are perfect, but Dungy's parents seemed to have all of the important things in life down perfectly.  They not only loved their kids, but also challenged them and comforted them with the teachings set forth in the Bible.  I personally look at my parents and believe I am truly blessed.  My parents know how many times I may mess up a situation, but they always have the core beliefs and values with them when they instruct me.  I have learned countless values from my parents.  I also believe it is not an every person situation that a child will use the morals from their parents and pass them down to their own children.  Personally, I believe I will pass down many of the important morals my parents taught me to my future children if God's future for me includes children of my own.

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