“How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game – a winner or a loser.”
-Lou Holtz
***
The football equipment has been put away. The jerseys washed, folded and stored. Most of the season seems to be fading away like the slowly setting sun on the horizon. This past season provided me with a few memories that will not likely fade with time. The third game of the season is one that that I, and I'm sure our team will likely remember for quite some time.
In the third game of the season, we did not perform very well in the first half. We did not execute our plays well; we made too many mental mistakes and seemed to lack passion. At half time, each of the coaches admonished the players about performing below expectations. Simply put, we were not playing up to our ability. At half time, I recited this quote from Lou Holtz, “How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game – a winner or a loser.”
In the third quarter we saw some improvement in our play, but fell behind 18-6. I was impressed that our team never quit. It would have been easy to “throw in the towel” being down by two touchdowns at the start of the 4th quarter. The team didn’t! We scored with four minutes remaining, but failed on the extra point try. Still trailing by a touchdown with less than two minutes to play, our defense gave our offense an opportunity to score. With 20 seconds remaining in the game, we scored! We were stopped short of the goal line on the extra point try and ended the game with a tie.
The next day in practice I repeated the quote from Lou Holtz. I told the team that they were all winners regardless of the score. We had our backs against the wall and never quit. The way they responded to adversity made them all winners. I told them I understood they were disappointed that they didn’t win the game, but, tomorrow, a week, a year from now the score of the game would be insignificant in their lives. What was significant was the life lesson the game offered them; the importance of perseverance. They faced adversity, believed in themselves and one another, and played with a “can do” attitude. As a result they walked away a winner in a much more important game than football, that being the game of life. I wanted them to remember belief, passion and action.
How about you? What do you do when you’re faced with adversity? Are you apt to “throw in the towel?” On the surface, it appears so much easier to give up. However, whenever you stare adversity in the face and accept a challenge, you automatically become a winner, regardless of the outcome. The fact that you try makes you a winner. There are so many real life examples of people who overcame adversity only to be rewarded with success. I often wonder what life would be like if the great inventors, scientists, entrepenuers, politicians, humanitarians, artists, athletes, and others quit the moment before the achieved their goal/dream. How many trials did it take for these people to get it right? How many times did they want to quit, but kept going. How many times did they hear people say it couldn’t be done? William Feather once said, “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging after others have let go.”
Why do people keep going in the face of adversity? It’s a gut feeling that they're doing the right thing. They’re pursuing their passion. Their passion cements a belief that it can be done. They understand that failure is the cornerstone to success. They understand that it’s through failure that we get things right. They know failure is meant to teach us one of two things; to give up or to keep going. Successful people use failure as a reason to keep going; they see opportunity in failure and understand that failure is a necessary step(s) toward success.
From this day forward I ask you to embrace and live THE CHAMPIONS CREED, written by Thomas Hopkins:
“I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed. And the number times I succeed is in direct proportion to number of times I can fail and keep trying.”
***
The football equipment has been put away. The jerseys washed, folded and stored. Most of the season seems to be fading away like the slowly setting sun on the horizon. This past season provided me with a few memories that will not likely fade with time. The third game of the season is one that that I, and I'm sure our team will likely remember for quite some time.
In the third game of the season, we did not perform very well in the first half. We did not execute our plays well; we made too many mental mistakes and seemed to lack passion. At half time, each of the coaches admonished the players about performing below expectations. Simply put, we were not playing up to our ability. At half time, I recited this quote from Lou Holtz, “How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game – a winner or a loser.”
In the third quarter we saw some improvement in our play, but fell behind 18-6. I was impressed that our team never quit. It would have been easy to “throw in the towel” being down by two touchdowns at the start of the 4th quarter. The team didn’t! We scored with four minutes remaining, but failed on the extra point try. Still trailing by a touchdown with less than two minutes to play, our defense gave our offense an opportunity to score. With 20 seconds remaining in the game, we scored! We were stopped short of the goal line on the extra point try and ended the game with a tie.
The next day in practice I repeated the quote from Lou Holtz. I told the team that they were all winners regardless of the score. We had our backs against the wall and never quit. The way they responded to adversity made them all winners. I told them I understood they were disappointed that they didn’t win the game, but, tomorrow, a week, a year from now the score of the game would be insignificant in their lives. What was significant was the life lesson the game offered them; the importance of perseverance. They faced adversity, believed in themselves and one another, and played with a “can do” attitude. As a result they walked away a winner in a much more important game than football, that being the game of life. I wanted them to remember belief, passion and action.
How about you? What do you do when you’re faced with adversity? Are you apt to “throw in the towel?” On the surface, it appears so much easier to give up. However, whenever you stare adversity in the face and accept a challenge, you automatically become a winner, regardless of the outcome. The fact that you try makes you a winner. There are so many real life examples of people who overcame adversity only to be rewarded with success. I often wonder what life would be like if the great inventors, scientists, entrepenuers, politicians, humanitarians, artists, athletes, and others quit the moment before the achieved their goal/dream. How many trials did it take for these people to get it right? How many times did they want to quit, but kept going. How many times did they hear people say it couldn’t be done? William Feather once said, “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging after others have let go.”
Why do people keep going in the face of adversity? It’s a gut feeling that they're doing the right thing. They’re pursuing their passion. Their passion cements a belief that it can be done. They understand that failure is the cornerstone to success. They understand that it’s through failure that we get things right. They know failure is meant to teach us one of two things; to give up or to keep going. Successful people use failure as a reason to keep going; they see opportunity in failure and understand that failure is a necessary step(s) toward success.
From this day forward I ask you to embrace and live THE CHAMPIONS CREED, written by Thomas Hopkins:
“I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed. And the number times I succeed is in direct proportion to number of times I can fail and keep trying.”
Keep on, Keeping On!
It’s you life: Live it, Love it & Embrace it!
MJD
1 comment:
Adversity in itself is neither good nor bad. How you choose to face it defines the impact. Facing it head on and working through the issues makes you a stronger person. People of strength are made to face events that make the weaker person quiver. Which person do you choose to be is a choice.
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