At my age, people either LOVE sports, or don’t really care for them. That said, I believe most of us can agree that playing sports during childhood can have an incredibly positive impact on a person’s life. Just as activities such as learning to play an instrument or studying a language can teach discipline, attention to detail, and the value of consistency in practice, many sports can also teach invaluable skills like teamwork and effective communication (among many other things).
Why is that relevant? A few nights ago while I was watching an NHL Playoff game (that’s hockey for those of you who don’t know), I had kind of an epiphany. My favorite team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, was playing their bitter rivals in Game 3 of a best-of-seven series. They were down 2 goals with only 2 minutes left to play in the game. For a lot of folks, that deficit simply seemed too much to overcome in such a small amount of time. You could see some people getting up and leaving their seats to try and beat the rush, assuming the game was over and we had lost. Lo and behold, the Penguins put on an incredible offensive display and scored TWO goals in under two minutes. The crowd that remained was electrified, I was screaming at the TV, and they managed to push the game into Overtime! Unfortunately the Penguins lost in OT, but that’s not the point!
The parallel to this game that I immediately made to our every day lives is this:
Fairly often, we might feel that we’re in a slump in life (personally, professionally, spiritually,… anything, really), or that our hard work isn’t paying off as we’d like. Most of the time I find it important to remember the next breakthrough could literally be around the corner. I’ve experienced this with friendships, fitness, and many other areas of life. Frustrated with squats? Stick to your 12 week program, rest and fuel appropriately, and let the results speak for themselves.
Positive change doesn’t happen when you want it to happen, positive change happens when you put in the appropriate amount of work. Instead of basing your “success” on the end result alone, try your best to enjoy the PROCESS. In retrospect, the process will be the most rewarding part anyways!
Be patient and stay the course! You can do it.
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