When the Rejected becomes the Worthy
When I was 10 years old my grandparents surprised me with an investment in the stock market. You might think that I’m sitting pretty with my investment 34 years later, but truth be told I ended up selling my single share of Nike stock for Jeep tires.
That’s right, my single share of Nike stock was a teaching tool for my 10-year old self and while it was pretty cool to be 10 and part owner of the brand that Michael Jordan built , Nike gradually became dead to me. My love of Air Jordans waned and I discovered that there were other brands that I actually liked better for running and riding. I was super-hot for Nike but it eventually descended way down; so far down that I wanted 32-inch all terrain tires for my Jeep Wrangler rather than a meager, minor ownership of Nike.
Nike definitely didn’t bounce back into my good graces when I owned a shoe store. I tried to get them to answer a phone call, reply to emails, or give me any time of the day so we could sell Nikes at the store. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. And the rumor was you had to sell a ton of Nikes, and only Nikes, to even get a chance with them. I wasn’t willing to sell the farm to one brand so we gave up and started to sell anything BUT Nike. We fixed problems Nike created, or so I thought!
My final afternoon of shoe store ownership was pretty terrible. I came home defeated but also very interested in seeing my boys and my wife more often. I was ready to give them the best of me and not what was left of me. I walked in the house extremely downtrodden, not wearing Nikes, and sat down. Eventually I thought it would be best to explain to the boys what a radical decision I had made and that I would either look like a moron or a genius depending on who you would ask. So I sat them down and while I laid out the uncertain future I was hoping for a hug and an attaboy from my 6 and 8-year old wingmen. I put it out there and asked them what they thought:
“Wait, does this mean we can buy Nikes now?!”
And just like that, Nike entered the picture again. The brand of my disdain, the brand that wouldn’t answer my calls, and the brand that was only good for me to get some sweet all-terrain tires for my Jeep was now the widget that would kick-start a new relationship between my boys and me. Oh how the tables turned! My mission now needed my former enemy!
So that afternoon we went and bought Nikes. I had spent 10 years outfitting everyone in any brand but Nike. My boys were born and when they started wearing shoes it was anything but Nike. But a new beginning sometimes starts with old rivals and so we revisited the brand that we used to avoid at all costs.
I don’t really care if you wear Nikes or avoid them at all cost. All I know is that I spent many years rejecting them only to have them be the catalyst for a new season of my life. My boys weren’t shy when they told me that the one thing they wanted in that moment was for their Dad to bend his ways, his rules, and be relatable to their world. They wanted an experience that they hadn’t had yet; mainly because I was so bent on putting the screws to a several billion-dollar brand that could care less about my livelihood. But the mission to me was to be a better dad, and to be a better dad you sometimes have to relate and be in the world of the ones that you love. If it meant I had to see them with giant Swooshes on the side of the shoes than so be it. The mission of being a dad mattered more than a sneaker brand.
In the years that passed a common theme of raising our boys has been how to be in the world but not of the world. There’s a difference. There’s no shortage of chances to talk about this when all are imperfect people living in an imperfect world. You have to have values, morals, and to me it means listening and doing the will of God. It ain’t easy! We need to have standards and a way of doing things that lines up with what we believe. Many times those are things that aren’t of the world. But we have to be in the world, living with each other and somehow making it all work. We have to relate and be approachable. And sometimes that means the things we used to run away from become something that we can teach about later on. I went from hating on Nike to plunking down some cash on two new pairs of shoes for my boys; strictly because it provided a pathway for my new mission!
You never know what will be brought back up from your past that will be necessary to move forward. The brand you tried to ignore might be the brand that helps you relate to your kids! The part of your past you want to forget? There might be some wisdom and encouragement there that uniquely helps you relate to someone that needs to hear it. There is history of the rejected becoming the cornerstone, the killers becoming the messenger of salvation, the weak winning battles, and the poor gaining wealth. When we are mission focused the script is sometimes flipped and the world notices!
I think we all have some Nikes in our closets. Not literally, but I bet we all have something, someone, or some issue that really grinds our gears. All I ask is that you frame that person, that thing, or that issue into your personal mission. You never know when that thorn in your side will suddenly be the key that opens doors of possibility. Be in the world and live it out. I think Nike would tell you to “Just Do It”.
