Throughout my many years of playing sports, I've picked up more than just the love of the game. From making it to practice on time to respecting my coaches, all while trusting my teammates and leaving whatever animosity I had with one off the field, being an athlete has made me a well rounded person. Here are a few ways being an athlete gives us the best life lessons:
1. Respect your coaches
By respecting our coaches, we will respect our bosses, our family members, and everyone we come in contact with. Usually the punishment for not being respectful is running. Just as in life, being disrespectful will lead to consequences. Showing respect to our coaches teaches us that we don't know everything there is to know about life and to listen to those who have been through what we are about to encounter. Respecting our coaches teaches us trust.
2. Respect, love, and trust your teammates
These are the people you're with every single day. Eventually, there will be tension, but you cannot be a team without trust. Being an athlete teaches us how to forgive easily and love others. Teammates are the ones who will be there for you and who entrust you to do your part. You learn to love each and every teammate no matter how mad they make you, because you have to trust them out on that field. This teaches us that in life, people will make you angry, but forgive them anyway. You can not take animosity to the field and expect to win the championship. You have to drop it and let it go. Forgive and forget because when you hold anger in your heart for someone, it doesn't leave any room for loving that person. If you don't love and get along with your teammates, don't expect to win because trust goes out the window.
3. Give God glory through failure and success
When we fail or we just feel like nothing we do is ever right and it just won't go our way, we pray. We seek to God for help. We learn that we will fail and in the mist of that failure, trust God is working for our good because we believe in him. Our failure teaches us to trust in him and if it doesn't work out, it's okay because that's not what God intended for us. Then, there are the times it does work and our prayers are answered. There are times when we win the game, championship, or play the game of our lives. In that we remember all the hardship we endured and remember that God is the one who gave us the ability and strength to accomplish the things we do. He gave us the hard times to help us realize to worship him through every phase in life.
4. It is okay to fail
Throughout your athletic career, you will fail. You will make mistakes, but you learn that it's okay because you will fail more times than you succeed. You just have to get up and keep working for the success. In life you're going to make mistakes but you have to keep going otherwise you will not get anything accomplished.
5. Punctuality
If you aren't on time or you're late for practice, what is usually the punishment? You guessed it: running. As athletes, the words "take off" are like scratching nails on a chalk board. Therefore, we are learn how important punctuality is in everyday life. For some, it may take running time after time again, but for others it takes one day of running to never be late for a single thing ever again. We athletes have PTSD from being late and being punished, therefore if you see us freaking out because we are late for class, you can blame our sport.
6. Responsibility
You forgot your jersey? Looks like you won't be playing. You didn't bring some of your gear? Looks like you'll stay later for practice and be running. You didn't run over the summer? Guess you will endure the hardest conditioning weeks of your life. That's our biggest fear as athletes: not being prepared. We highly dislike running and conditioning as it is; therefore, double check everything. We make sure we are completely prepared. This teaches us responsibility.
