Live Life In Full Color

I talk about authenticity. A lot. Like, so much I want to give myself an eye roll emoji. However, with the recent passing of Craig Sager, it’s too perfect of an opportunity to paint a colorful picture of living authentically.

For those of you who are not a sports fan, like me, Craig Sager was a sports reporter who began his career in 1981 and was best known for his sideline coverage of the NBA.

This year, on December 13, 2016, Sager was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Two days later, he passed away after a two-plus year battle with acute myeloid leukemia (blood cancer).

Sager lived his life and career the same way: in full color. He never shied away from his style, instead embracing it with all his being and becoming known for it. It’s one of the reasons the gentle giants he interviewed took such a liking to him. He was authentically himself, on the court and off.

Over the summer, Sager was awarded the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYS, knowing he was terminally ill. He showed up just as he had all those years on the sidelines, clad in his signature style: loud, eccentric, and always colorful.

How to live your life in full color:

1. Know What Makes You Happy. I’m consistently surprised by how many people can’t answer the seemingly simple question: “What makes you happy?” You’re thinking hard about this, aren’t you? For Sager, it was basketball and journalism. While he covered other sports, he found his home on the sidelines of NBA courts. Colorful attire was clearly something that also made him happy.

“I’m a kid from the small Illinois town of Potamia who grew up on the Chicago Cubs and made sports his life’s work, although there’s never been a day when it actually seemed like work.” Craig Sager

2. Embrace it. Once you know what makes you happy, embrace it fully. For me, it’s helping people improve, learn, grow, and become their best. I don’t shy away from this; instead, I figure out ways daily to embrace it. Sager also embraced it. He showed up happy. Even through an incredibly hard battle with cancer, he showed up happy, not allowing an outside influence to steal his joy. If anything, it confirmed his passion.

“Whatever I might’ve imagined a terminal illness would do to my spirit, it’s summoned quite the opposite. The greatest appreciation for life itself…I will live my life full of love and full of fun. It’s the only way I know how.” Craig Sager

3. Share it with the world. The real magic of living is when you identify your happiness trigger, embrace it, and then share it with the world. Many people fail to do this last part. They are scared of being judged, not good enough, or “different,” when instead they should see their uniqueness as their best strength. Start with your happy, and you’ll never be wrong. Happiness is the most radiant of all colors. You should paint yourself from head to toe in it. Everyday.

“If I’ve learned anything through all of this, it’s that each day is a canvas waiting to be painted.” Craig Sager

One of my favorite movie scenes is from The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy arrives in Munchkin Land and the transition from black and white to full color occurs. It’s a magical moment, one many will never experience in their own lives. It took me a few decades to start living my life in full color. Now that I’m here, I much prefer not being in Kansas anymore. This is your invitation to break free and live your life in full color, just like Craig Sager.

Watch Sager’s entire Jimmy V Perseverance Award acceptance speech here.

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