Toughness

                    In the beginning of my novel, Toughness, Jay Bilas begins to talk about the actual definition of Toughness that people now day think about when they think toughness. For example, in a basketball game, when your coach tells you to be tougher, what does he mean? Does it mean get overly agressive and start to be physical and get up in another guys face to show you mean business? NO! Bilas uses his parents to show what he thinks toughness is and that's what he believes it is. Not being aggressive and on the verge of starting a fight because that's how serious you are into it.

                    Bilas' father, Anthony Bilas, immagrated here and learned English as his second lanauage and worked at an early age. When he was an adult, he never complained about it or how diffcult it was. He would plan to do a task and do it, and didn't need a compliments about it. One time he took Jay Bilas to the batting cages and when he kept giving advice to Jay Bilas to help him. Jay Bilas thought that he was getting mad, so he yelled at him to do it. He went in and did it with no problem and didn't get mad about it. He just told him the advice again so he would be able to do it.

                    This is one of his definitions of Toughness. Not being agressive, but being calm and relaxed but able to do what your suppose to and don't get upset about it. Which is one way Jay Bilas thinks of Toughness. He also said that he thinks his mom is tough as well, and that's where he got a decent amount of his toughness.
                    Jay Bilas' mom, Margery Bilas, was the daugher of a United States Merchant Marine lieuteant commander and a Scottish immagrant. He describes his mom as tough in character. Will believe in what she believes, always have believed in him. His mom was his personal teacher that would help him be successful in life, and he was smart enough to accomplish anything. She wanted him to do his best and if he did his best he could get the best grades. She made him do things which she said were the right thing to do. His mom also encouraged him to dress well at school and fueled him literally and figuratively. His mom was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get into any school with his SAT score without the consideration of being on the basketball team. The IVY league college said with his grades without basketball he could go anywhere that he wanted to go. Which is showing how his mom was nice like a mother should be but also "tough" at the same time to get him set up for the college he wants to go to and have the job that he wants to have.

                     So if you think that toughness is just being aggressive in a game or in life, your wrong and I recommend that you read this non-fiction novel about Toughness by Jay Bilas.