I love the game of football. I have deep remorse that I did not play the game in any organized fashion growing up. It is a game of brutality. A game of wills. A game of pain and triumph. It truly is a game about life. It's a game about forward progress, control, skill, and discipline. What a reflection of reality.
As an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan I recall watching them suffer a brutal loss two weeks ago at the hands of the Patriots. They got the breaks beat off of them. It was embarrassing to say the least. Yet, that was not but a small picture of what the Steelers are. They didn't stay down. They mounted up and whooped ass on the lowly Raiders the following week. It wasn't that they beat down an undeserving team that struck me. It was that they regrouped from such a terrible set back.
This is where life truly is played out on the football field. How many times have each of us given our all and come up short? How many times has our best not been good enough? I know that what often happens is that people give up. They figure their best is good enough and throw in the towel. It's sad but true. I've been here before. There are times when you just don't feel like it's worth it anymore.
I ask you to consider this, what if your greatest victory was contained in the very next opponent you faced? Most championship teams do not go undefeated. Instead they have ups and downs throughout the season. What happens is that they build from those losses and peak at the right time. Championships aren't won at the beginning or even the middle of the season. It is a total effort. The good and the bad.
When you watch games in HD you can see the blood, sweat, and even tears that are shed each and every Sunday. This is done by both the winner and the loser. Yet, they pull it all together. Work hard throughout the week only to do it again. We should approach each day in such a fashion. Learn from the past, embrace the present, and hope for the future. Press on toward the mark of the high calling.
I remember hearing an interview with Wayne Gretzky, hockey great. He was talking about the first time he was in the championship game on a professional level. His team had been beaten royally and lost the series. Gretzky stated that he left his teams locker room to go see the celebration of the other team. He said he was surprised by what he saw. He didn't see people falling all over each other in joy. What he was men being patched up from the injuries suffered during the battle for the gold. He stated that he looked at his team and saw that they had few if any injuries. They also didn't have the Championship.
It was at that point that Gretzky realized that his team had not paid the price to be champions. They had come far but they didn't suffer till the end. The other team wanted it so badly they were willing to bleed and be broken for it. His team didn't. Success is not achieved by the prettiest. It is not achieved by the those that come out unscathed. No, it is achieved by those will to pay the price for what they want. You only reach the top by being willing to go to the bottom. You can only get there by suffering.
Learn from these athletes. Learn from the game how to live life. Learn that suffering isn't always what it seems. Learn that is is the pathway to something much greater if you use it wisely. I have suffered and still am in many ways. I don't want this to go to waste. I could be bitter, stay bitter, and never recover. Or, I could choose to use this to fuel me to where I want to go. I could come out with scars that tell the story of my demise or the story of my triumph. I vow not to let suffering destroy me. Instead, I will suffer my way to success. Suffer my way to love. Suffer my way to peace. Suffer my way......to where it leads me.
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