Giving your very best at all times
It's time for national football tryouts in my country. Coaches and scouts are assessing the performance of young footballers and making selections for our national teams, both junior and senior.
Over the past few weeks, players were invited to tryouts held at different locations across the country where they trained and played games under the watchful eye of the coaches who would later announce their selection.
This weekend, my eldest son joined the tryouts. At first, intimidated by other players, he was reluctant.
"Those other players are better than I am," he said. "They've all trained in clubs. I don't think I am good enough."
And that, my friends, is where I stopped him, and this is where we begin our chat.
Never Underestimate Your Worth
In life, I understand that sometimes things can be intimidating. It may seem like someone is better at something than you are. The other party may appear to be more confident. They may be quicker. They may be stronger. Whatever the field, you may be intimidated by the fact that this other person or persons demonstrate a level of expertise that you do not have yet. This is not reason enough, however, to give up and not try. Why? Because you never know the outcome until you do try.
When you are competing for something, you defeat yourself first when you start by thinking you can't or that the other person is better than you.
I have always firmly believed that if you are going to try for something, never underestimate your worth. Don't think of the other person, think of what you bring to the table.
My friends, you know I love an anecdote, right? So here's the story.
When I was younger, I was pretty athletic. I wasn't a trained athlete though. And so there was this other girl who had the shoes, the funding, the backing, the training to run.
We were put to race against each other. I was bare feet. She had shoes with spikes. All bets were on her. I never thought I would lose the race. It simply did not occur to me.
When the starter's gun went off, I ran as fast as I could, chest thrust forward, bare feet kicking up stones and dust.
I did not think of the person next to me. I did not think of the person behind me. I thought only of the ribbon ahead and I closed the distance as fast as I could. In fact, I ran so fast, I burst the ribbon and kept running, tumbled into a drain and split my lip so badly, it cuts on the very same spot to this day if my lips are dry. Thing is though, I won the race.
Star power is natural
I'm not saying that I had star power- the race I described was an elementary school affair- but star power is natural. It doesn't rely on training. And sometimes some of the world's best performers in one field or another, were naturals.
In my country there was this athlete, Keshorn Walcott, who grew up in relative poverty throwing sticks on the beach.
This young man later became an Olympic champion, winning gold in the javelin throw, and becoming the first Caribbean male athlete and the first male athlete of African descent to win gold in a throwing event in the history of the Olympics. This is just one of the many accolades he now wears. He didn't give up before he tried. He went to the Olympics, faced the world, and he gave his best, and his best was more than enough.
Your best is more than enough.
Begin with positivity and end with learnings.
My friends, not only should you undertake every venture with a positive spirit, ready to give your very best, you should also strive to enjoy yourself along the way, and always learn from every experience.
And so, if you approach challenges with this mindset, you will always be a winner because you will have accomplished your goals: to give it your best shot, to enjoy the experience, and to learn.
In the end, my son joined several other young boys for today's tryouts, and he had fun. He could talk of nothing else all day.
In fact, at the end of the tryouts, he came to the car beaming.
"They didn't take my name today," he said. "But I'll be back again next week."
And so, my friends, whenever you're presented with a challenge, remember:
Believe in yourself first.
Give it your very best.
Enjoy yourself cuz life's too short to be stressed by any undertaking, and
Always try to learn from the experience.
Thank you for reading. Have a great Sunday.
Resources
