A lot of things come to mind when one hears the word “commitment.” Relationships, punctuality, work, athletics and much more. To me, it certainly does apply to all of these subjects, and moving closer to the “real world” in the next month and the four subsequent years to follow means daily life will be full of these such things. Now, circling back to the word itself and what it means, commitment can be a strange thing. One can subconsciously commit to something as much or as little as they want, even if on the surface they seem into it.
My most relevant story about this idea comes from my first year of varsity soccer. It was my sophomore year of high school and through teammate injuries and other complications, I was starting games by mid-season. This posed a considerable stressor to me because although I was very happy to be on the team and play, something was holding me back.
Throughout these soccer years, my parents attended many games and the best part of that was my dad and I would talk about the game and how it went afterward, usually on the car ride home or over dinner. I thought they were a great way to get some insight from someone I trust and hopefully get better at whatever sport we were talking about. After one game during that sophomore year, I did not play well. Mistakes, bad passes and whatever else had led to my benching in favor of a teammate, and rightfully so, I was not playing well. After that game, the post game chat was tenser than usual, I was upset with my performance and I could tell something was stressing my dad too. I simply assumed it was my performance too, but thinking back that could not have been farther from the truth. A little while of silence prevailed on the car ride home, then he figured out how to articulate the observations.
“You know when the other player is coming up to you with the ball and you ‘contain’ them?"
When they make a bad touch and you can take the ball away I see you hesitate.
Don’t hesitate, just pow! *clapping his hands for emphasis* Commit!”
There are no words to describe how much sense this made to me.
That experience defined commitment to me from then on. Not just something you are out there doing, but a full dedication of mind and body into whatever act one is performing. The lesson did improve my soccer performance over time for certain, but it carries much more weight when applying these ideas to the virtues stated in the first paragraph and that is what I am truly grateful for.
So, with the school year approaching, try to keep this idea in mind. If you are going along when “the ball” (opportunity) places itself in within reach, and it’s something you really want, pow! With both mind and body, commit yourself and don’t take no for an answer. Because nobody changed the world from looking in at a distance. Get involved.
