Sometimes, It's Just Not About You....

If at some point in your life you played a team sport, you have either run into or may have been, that individual who could care less about the team goals and just went for self...These individuals may or may not "get" the TEAM concept and it is this difference in philosophies which will either cause the team or the individual (possibly both) to crash and burn.  I constantly hear people talk about sports being a metaphor for life, and they don't really explain their thoughts clearly.  To me, as an athlete in Grade School, High School and College, I honestly didn't feel that way.  Now that I look back at not only my athletic career but life as an adult, I truly believe that sports can be used as a metaphor for life.  IF, the metaphor is reasonable and relevant to the individuals current situation.  Example, if I told you that the two free throws you have to make at the end of the game, to win the game are a "life and death" situation...well, then I'm going a little too far and this isn't truly the case.  Because unlike death (where you DON'T come back), there will probably be another game where you can redeem yourself.  On the other hand, there are situations where a sports metaphor is true and can be used to see your current situation in a sports theme.  Let's take for instance me and my wife Lindsay.  There is no doubt that we are a team...no doubt in my mind.  Whatever I do affects her and whatever she does affects me.  We work together for common goals and we help each other with our individual goals as well.  We're also there for support and motivation.  I'm bringing up the theme of sports metaphors in real life because I had to use it Wednesday to ensure that my wife Lindsay had a great day off of work.  You see, my wife loves to be outdoors and hike.  I'm more of a city person, but I don't mind being outside; I just don't love it as much as my wife does (*BLOGGER NOTE* Everything in brackets is how I feel sports metaphors relate to real life).  So my wife wanted to hike to Marlette Lake up near Tahoe.  If you have ever been, you would know that this hike is 4.5 miles all uphill...so, we're looking at a 9.0 mile hike round trip (just like 2 adays).  This is what my wife wanted to do and while I wanted to spend time with her, I also wanted to make her happy during the process (team cohesion).  What you don't know is that we actually tried this hike about a month ago and I basically had enough after 1.5 miles...I actually quit, it was that rough (quitters never win, winners never quit).  I knew Lindser was upset but took the high road and didn't really complain about it.  I knew I had to get my shit in order in the next couple of weeks so I could make this hike (dedication and resilience).  So I worked out harder the next few weeks, weight training, running, plyometrics, whatever (voluntary summer workouts) to get in better shape to complete this hike (giving my TEAM the best chance to win).  So we went on this hike Wednesday 24AUG11, and it went as planned.  We both made it, so did our dogs and it was a great view.  Were there times that I wanted to quit again...sure, but I would be letting down my TEAM and at some point you have to pull up your skirt, grab your nuts and say, "fuck it, it's going to hurt but it's not going to hurt forever".  And that's what I did, and we had a great hike and Lindser had a great day off (Win).  Although most people have misguided views on winning and losing, in my opinion its not about the win or loss column, it's about how much effort and how far you are willing to go to achieve a win.  The "W" is mostly the results of the hard work that you have put in for you or your team (depending on the sport), but it's not about the destination, it's about the journey and the lessons you have learned before you get to your destination.  That hike wasn't about me, it was about my wife and making her day off the best day off she ever had.  This is a lesson that I learned from sports, even though at the time I learned it, I didn't even realize that I had.  So remember, if you look at the big picture, it doesn't matter what the wins or losses column says.  It matters how big is your H.E.A.R.T is and how that translates into the effort you gave to achieve your or your teams goal(s).  Play hard, play with H.E.A.R.T.