Every athlete faces disappointment in their competitive lives. I think my personal experience is that for every "wonder race" (the ones you truly revel in with your success-when it all seems to come together), there’s probably about five races that were generally forgettable. My recent ski blog shares my disappointment at my final int’l race. But is it about results anyway?
I love what Stu McMillan (popular Calgary based coach) has to say about this. (His blog: www.mcmillanspeed.com)"Possibly cliche number one in the Great Book of Cliches states that life is about the journey - not the destination....And it is in this process that success lies.
It is the same with sport. If you are waiting until the end-product of your work for your satisfaction, then you will be disappointed. Revel in the training. In your experiences. The challenges. In the friendships you make. The relationships you build. With others. With yourself. In the strength you possess. Your will. Your commitment. Learn from your failures. For there will be many.
Don't be proud of your perfectionism. It is a flaw. The struggle to avoid failure is a fear-driven, exhausting, stressful way to live. Perfectionism will not lead to high-performance.
High performance comes from embracing your fears. From confronting failure. From be-friending your imperfection."
I’ll even notch things up a bit.
As a Christian athlete, we’ve got even more purpose and reason for triumphantly persevering. Check out Romans 5.3f:
"And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance proven character, and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
What’s more important than good results? Character. God is way more concerned about our character.... about becoming like Jesus, than He is about results (though I think He does care, because we care-but in a different way). Another cliche (maybe #2 Stu) is, "there's Joy in the Journey". Really living is when you take each setback and roadblock and go about striving to solve the puzzle. Romans 5 tells us there is a great outcome in doing this... hope. Character. Experiencing God along the way (via the Holy Spirit).
I’ve got way more to say on this, but I’m keeping my bposts short. More later! Thanks for reading!
