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
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