Athletes: Give BELIEF as in God A Try!

Athletes: Give BELIEF as in God, a try! 

Why not add faith into your training regimen? There are lots of gimmicks out there that promise performance enhancement. Give me a minute to challenge your sport and spirit connections.

Let me start with the weakest reason I ever heard for faith. It has been said, I would rather live my life believing there is a God, then die and find out that I was wrong, then to have lived my life believing there was no God, then die and find out I was wrong. While that thinking deserves some credit, surely you can see where it is lacking in passion, right? It is basically, a cover your “behind” way to think. The faith that I am talking about requires a more courageous stance. Let me ask you this: Do you race because if you didn’t you might not win, or is your motivation something more than that? Most of us pit ourselves against the competition at races because it keeps us honest. How hard would you train if you knew you would never be tested? Faith is training for life. Believe me, you will be tested…at the race and throughout your life. Both take a mammoth amount of conditioning. Part of your sports’ training is soldiering you for life. Plenty of others will look to you for the courage contained within your heart. Ever wonder why the words of some of the best coaches sound an awful lot like a sermon? Consider this quote by Vince Lombardi (great football coach) about mental toughness. "Mental toughness is spartanism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness and it is love."  Hey readers, what could be more God-like than fearless love? Is that in your training plan?

Second, I invite you to read the Athletes Prayer . It concludes with this wonderful line:  “With Thee as coach and trainer, Lord, real victory must be mine."

In conclusion, I am going to challenge you to stretch yourself. Life is not an equal opportunity provider. That means this may be one of the few times you think about the relationship between your talent as an athlete and your relationship with God. So for now, start with two simple strategies for integrating faith into your training: (1) Be open and aware. Listen for God, (2) Say “thank-you” every time you feel grateful. Doing step one is bound to open up many more moments for doing step 2. Try it! Guaranteed.

Follow this “Sportuality” blog and share your thoughts. I welcome them. 

Coach Susan Kelly http://www.sportingourspirit.com/index.html

Gratitude in Sports.

Lately, I have been thinking about gratitude in sports. When I was in high school, my parents were unable to attend school events. Had it not been for a loyal sister who made it her intention to always attend all my sporting events, I might have gotten discouraged. Gratitude, though, for this sisterly support came to me late in life. Many years after high school it occurred to me that this same sister quit track, her athletic strength, when I went off to college. When I asked why, the truth stung…. “No one ever came to see me, to call out my name.” Gulp. I had a chance to coach her through a triathlon challenge a few years back. When she was afraid on the swim, I treaded water beside her until calmness returned. As we both neared the finish chute on the run leg, there was no doubt in my mind that I would step in behind her so that she would finish first. This was her moment, and I was overwhelmed with joy to be behind her in celebration of it. Now, more than ever, the sports playing field looks different to me. I notice all the supportive family and friends on the scene.  For all of you, who have rung cowbells, held up signs, cut oranges, handed out water, darted across fields with toddler in a stroller, driven at 5:00 a.m. carried coolers and a change of clothes, pumped up bike tires, wrapped a cold towel around overheated shoulders, snapped pictures endlessly, and listened to the replays over and over again… thank-you, thank-you. You are special, very special and your love shows.

“Love never fails.” 1Cor 13:8.

Extraordinariness!

Extraordinariness and the pursuit of excellence. Are you fortunate enough to have known one of those special moments…a moment where ability, focus, training, and Grace combine to produce magic? All doubt and fear are swept out of the way, replaced by confidence and infinite possibilities. Athletes, visionaries, missionaries, scientists, performers, political leaders, teachers, clergy, and parents (to name just a few of the many) can all be caught up in what some describe as “the zone”. Maslow termed this state “peak experience”. Csikszentmihalyi calls it “a state of flow”. Flow is a heightened state of awareness present in extraordinary achievement. It has been carefully studied but impossible to manipulate. Sometimes, we experience our ordinariness suffused with a power that is not our own. One minute it's there… as we hear the drummer's solo, an impassioned speech, an apology from a rebellious teen, we hear the message in a homily we longed to hear, we observe the impossible putt on the greens, or the triathlete no one can catch on the bike leg… it's the perfect moment. Then it's gone. In that moment, we are witness to the pursuit of excellence begetting the unimaginable outcome and we are forever affected by it. Then it passes. What do we make of these privileged moments? Are we special because they belong to us? God provides the talent and the way. The pursuit of excellence is itself a gift, a freedom of expression. When surprised by greatness, let us be humbled with awe and remember the Source.
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.” Gal 5:25

Sporting Our Spirit workshop presentation notes

Jacob Austin Shadle, B-7-12-78, D-5-15-04

Do you have any idea how much we miss you?

Sporting Our Spirit at The Compassionate Friends- Arlington, VA.

July, 2010 National Convention:   

Highlight notes to remember

Presenters:

Susan Kelly

            Contact info:

            Fort Myers, FL

            Email: Susan@SportingOurSpirit.com

            Web: www.SportingOurSpirit.com

           

Josh Shadle

            Contact info:

            Boulder, CO

            Email: josh@tri-massage.com

            Web:  www.tri-massage.com

Quotes and messages

Our ability to endure our experience of loss will tell us much. “I tell you hopeless grief is passionless.” Elizabeth B. Browning

“In the midst of winter, I found in me an invincible summer.” Albert Camus

“Trade with the gifts God has given you.”  Hilda of Whitby

“Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”  Matthew 5:4

“It is the nature of Grace to fill the empty spaces.” Goethe

“Every morning I wake up saying, I am still alive, a miracle. And so I keep on pushing.” Jacques Cousteau

“You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase. Make use of suffering.” Henri-Frederic Amiel

“In a grand piano, 243 tight strings exert a pull of 40,000 pounds on an iron frame. It is

proof that out of great tension may come harmony.” Theodore Steinway

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” M. Kathleen Casey

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor E. Frankl

“God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure.” Eric Liddel (Olympian)

References (a comprehensive list for grief relief, fitness, spirituality, and nutrition):

http://www.sportingourspirit.com/resources.htm

Fitness:

Bergland, Christopher. The Athlete’s Way: Training Your Mind And Body to Experience the Joy of Exercise. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007.

Grief Relief:

Hickman, Martha Whitmore. Healing after Loss: Daily Meditations for Working through Grief, (New York: Harper-Collins, 2002).

Nutrition:

Bean, Anita. The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition: How to Eat for Maximum Performance. Guilford: Lyons Press, 2004

Carmichael, Chris. Fitness, and Life Plan for Discovering the Champion Within. New York: Rodale Press, 2007.

Harmon. Nancy. The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: A Delicious Alternative for Lifelong Health.  Random House, 2008.

Fitness motivators. The basics: believe, breathe, hydrate, move.

Find a fitness buddy. Exercising alone is the number one reason why many individuals lose interest.

Join a gym and take classes.

Check your local parks and recreation or YMCA.

Join with other athletes exercising for a cause:

         Team in Training- Leukemia/Lymphoma

         American Heart Association

         Breast Cancer

         Arthritis Association

         Out of Darkness- Suicide awareness

         Medals for Mettle- athletes donating finish medals to cheer the hospital bound

         Christian athletic groups- FCA, (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) AIA (Athletes in Action Sports Ministry), CAC (Catholic Athletes for Christ)

         Join: Sporting Our Spirit club- be a part of putting faith in your fitness and sport in your spirit.

Notes to self:

Newton’s 1^st Law of Motion: Unless acted upon by an outside force, a body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.

How many sports can you name where you could belong…as a volunteer, a spectator, or best of all…participant….competitor?  Let’s start with ping pong,

How will you start?