Source: google.ca via Amber on Pinterest
Time to get a little personal. A friend sent me this quote along with some well-needed words of encouragement. There are times when many things don’t go as planned. Recently, I had a setback with an injury that is going to take some time to heal. It requires more rest time than I would prefer, and requires more patience than I care for. No, no surgery, and truly not the end of the world. Many others have experienced far worse than what I have endured, but when you are in the thick of it, it just feels like a sh#@ sandwich.
Wisdom earned and lessons learned. I learned a lesson and life perspective back when I was 17 and 19 years old. Sports are not all pride and glory, and they do not define me. Yes, this seems silly to state now because, DUH! Of course not!, but as a young teenager that was what I thought did define me. I was the athlete. Most who knew me, knew that was what I was about. Athletics. Or so I thought anyway.
A serious knee injury took out that pride and glory for me. I was a senior in high school. Just like that, I didn’t know who I was without athletics. The plans for college and athletics wouldn’t be what I thought they were. After a different college direction occurred, and a return back to the sport I loved, once again another injury took out my identity. Or did it?
At that point I learned to realize there is more to who I am than athletics. It wasn’t the plan or path I would have chosen, but then again I wasn’t in charge of the master plan anyway. Once you surrender to that, it is so freeing. Plans always change. How will you react? Will you see glory in the rest time as well as the music?
Choices. We all have a choice in how we will react to our situations. There’s a choice in how we react to adversity and what life throws at us. I learned a lot about who I was in my early 20s, as most of us do. At that time, I truly found the person I wanted to be was much greater than the athlete I thought I was. I had more to offer than that. Plus, I learned how to grow out of the selfish sh*@ that I was.
Fast forward, I sit here in a situation that feels familiar, years later, with feelings touching back to that teenage girl. Glimpses of that place years ago. Frustrated. Pissed off. Not going according to plan. Different now though, as I know I have a choice on how I can react to it. It doesn’t mean I didn’t have my brief meltdown (sorry you were the recipient Vince). I was entitled to get that out and I’m OVER it.
I'm wiser now.I'm more patient with the learning process in these years, even if I don't like the situation. I'm a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, and I have more to offer to those around me. I make a conscious choice to offer my gifts in a different light. Yes, many times it is still offered through sport, but just from a different lens and perspective. Sometimes you think you play one role and then you are required to play another.
You see sport and athletics are what renew me (thanks for those words Tali), yet they don’t define me. I am truly passionate about what they can offer and the others around me, but athletics are just the vehicle through which I can share my gifts. Life experiences are learned and nuggets of wisdom are shared through this wonderful vehicle of sport. Tools that help me navigate through life.
As I glance forward, I commit to living life by being intentional and training with purpose. I choose to be thankful for the forced rest time, even if it wasn’t part of my plan. Sometimes the man upstairs has a way of knocking the legs out from under you to refocus your direction and get new lenses to see a different perspective. I relinquish the selfish part of me to enjoy the rest in this song that was given to me.
Source: donrathjr.com via Jenny on Pinterest
Watch out! When this forced rest time is over, I will be hungrier than ever and I have a renewed perspective and passion that might be contagious. The rest is part of the music. Here’s to the continuation of the song by making music as if no pause was ever there. It might even rock your world!
