No one ever thinks it will happen to them.

That’s what I tell my athletes.

No one ever thinks they will be the one to overdose, to choke on their own vomit, to suffer a sexual assault while drunk.

No one ever goes to a party thinking that they will never come home.

But it happens all the time, and coaches and teachers and parents desperately try to make this point in a way that will stick with young people.

Dr. Louis M. Profeta has done it as well as anyone. In this spectacular article, he makes his audience see, hear and, yes, smell the morning when they get out of bed and stumble over a “blue and stiff body.”

“Dead, waxy, with ‘rock-still’ clouded eyes,” writes Profeta, an emergency room physician. “You could never envision a stare so distant. You played pickup basketball yesterday at the campus rec center.”

Profeta’s words make me think of visualization, a mental skill in which athletes see themselves performing at their peak. With his vivid use of language, Profeta outlines the stakes in a much bigger game.

“I showed them how I would tell their mom and dad that they were dead and how mom would pull hunks of her hair out ’til it bled and dad would punch the wall shattering a bone or two but not noticing, a river of snot pouring from his face.”

Is that clear enough a picture for you?

No one ever thinks it will happen to them. Some people will read this article and still believe it could never happen to them.

But maybe, just maybe, Profeta’s words will save one person from an action that could kill.

“It takes one little mistake to ruin your life or someone else’s life forever.”

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Thank you for visiting Total Game Plan. If your team, group or business needs a motivational speaker, please email coachtully @ totalgameplan.com. Here are some other resources for your success:

“Think Better, Win More!” will give you a mental game to match your physical game.

To get better at anything, check out “The Improvement Factor: How Winners Turn Practice into Success.”

Do you coach females? Are you a female athlete, or the parent of one? Here’s “Was It Something I Said? A Guide to Coaching Female Athletes” by Vanessa Sullivan and Mike Tully

Need some motivation? Everyone needs it now and then. Open any page of “Thank God You’re Lazy! The Instant Cure for What’s Holding You Back” by Dr. Rob Gilbert and Mike Tully.

Are you a teacher, boss or sports coach? Here’s “Ten Things Great Coaches Know” by Mike Tully and Gary Pritchard.

Want to have your best basketball season ever? Here’s “Basketball: What Great Players Know that You Don’t Know,” by Mike Tully and Gio Grassi.