Sports teach us the most important lessons in life
Everyone has to face adversity. In life it seems that in order to be successful and to be a winner, a team, player a person needs to overcome the most difficult circumstances.
If you look at the best teams or best players in sports, it’s obvious. The upper-echelon organizations and individuals seem to have figured out how to fight through adversity.
That’s why sports matter.
It is an example for us. We watch these larger-than-life figures make unbelievable plays and look up to them. Sports are a metaphor of life.
And it’s silly to think otherwise.
Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, wrote a book that seems to put things into perspective. In “Quiet Strength,” Dungy ties together football and life.
Dungy writes, “When a game ends, win or lose, it’s time to prepare for the next one. The coaches and players really don’t have time to celebrate or to stay down, because Sunday’s gone and Monday’s here. And no matter what happened yesterday, you have to be ready to play next Sunday. That’s how it works-just like life.”
It’s not Shakespeare, but it is funny how easily the thinking of a head football coach can apply to life. No matter what happened yesterday, we have to be ready for the next game or the next day. It’s a waste of time to dwell on the past, in other words.
In the face of adversity, we’ve got to keep going and be ready for what’s ahead. If that type of thinking doesn’t apply to life, then it’s hard to say what does.
It’s like a guide on how to be successful.
The best part of it all is that there are thousands of examples from hundreds of teams and players that show us how to be successful.
Muhammad Ali, who is arguably the greatest boxer of all-time, once said that champions are made of something they have deep inside them. He said it could be a dream, a desire or a vision.
Athletes like Ali and coaches like Dungy are living proof that sports are important.
But not every example in sports is a good one. Steroid scandals, legal troubles of prominent athletes and poor showings of character all plague professional sports. That’s why finding and listening to the great athletes or to a great coach is so important.
If you pay more attention to those games or what the coach has to say after the game, then you will start to notice that there is more to sports than paychecks and cheerleaders. The way professional coaches and athletes think about their jobs can inspire you to overcome your obstacles and live a successful life.
The lessons learned on a playing field are the most important lessons learned in life. Every win, loss or draw teaches us something about ourselves that we didn’t know before the game.
Remember, the games count for something.
