10 Things I've Learned from Track and Field

Yesterday was our conference meet and it rained and rained and rained (all season it rained!) and it was 40 degrees!  I said to my partner-coach, Liz, "In 30 years of track and field I cannot ever remember a season this bad!"  She agreed.  Hard to believe that I've been either competing or coaching track and field, on and off, for almost 30 years!  Am I really that old??  So then, I'd like to share a few things I've learned over the years from this sport that I love and maybe they apply to life in general or the life of faith specifically.  Here goes. . .

1) Track and Field is a team sport.  You contribute to the team by doing your best at what you do best!  And you let others do their best at what they do best, you don't get your feelings hurt if someone is faster than you or can jump higher or throw farther. . . you let the ones who do the best get the job done and you continue to work hard and improve.  There is NO competition within the team that drags the team down; we work together to improve, supporting one another, cheering each other on, and picking each other up when someone trips and falls.
2) Sometimes the weather is not conducive to competition but you are there and so you must get your head into what you are there to do: run, jump, throw, hurdle!  This means you may have to high jump into a pit full of snow (did that several times) in shorts and a shirt; you may have to run with rain pelting your forehead (ditto), you may have sand sticking to your legs and up your shorts because the long jump pit is filled with wet, wet sand, it may be hotter than hot but still you go on. . . life is like that!  You take what you are given and you learn to adapt and deal with it.  You cannot just stop because you don't like the weather (or the situation, or the context, or whatever else bothers you in the moment.)  This is how we get stronger.  It's called "mental toughness!"  You pray to God for strength and you do what you have to do--- EVERYONE else has the same rain pelting their foreheads, EVERYONE else has the cold temperatures keeping their muscles from warming up. . . How will you deal with it?  That's the question?
3) Everyone now and then you might feel like crying.  You might be dead-dog-tired so you cry your tears and then you get on with things!  You may be frustrated, exhausted, alone, weary, unmotivated, sad, or some combination of these emotions. . . but at some point third call is going to come and you have to show up on the starting line and do your thing!
4) Winning really isn't the only thing.  Doing your very best is the only thing.  There is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS going to be someone who is better at this than you are!  But if you are improving each and every week, every meet, every day of your life then you are doing what God calls you do!  This life is a journey. . . with a little self-awareness we get better with age. . . there really are more important things than winning-- but winning isn't bad either!  :)  If you win, be a good sport about it.  Say congratulations and good job to those you beat.  If you lose, be a good sport about it, say congratulations and good job to those who beat you.
5) If you don't work hard in practice you will not magically improve when the gun goes off.  In other words, don't take the easy way out!!  Things that are worth having in life are not easily gained.  The reality is that as human beings we don't really cherish that which has come easy to us.  It is the struggle to get better, the struggle to achieve, the struggle to become the best that we can be that makes a qualitative difference in our lives.
6) Your coach cannot do it for you.  You have to do the work.  But the coach is there to help you be the best that you can be, even when it hurts.  Those workouts are meant for the athletes to get stronger, more mentally tough, more skilled at technique.  If you don't work out you will never get better!
As a pastor I think of myself as a spiritual coach for my congregation.  I can lead you in worship but I cannot worship for you.  I can show you how I see God's work in the world but you have to open your eyes to see it for yourself.  I can talk to you about the spiritual disciplines and practice them myself but you have to engage in them for yourself for them to help you grow deeper.  A good coach is a tremendous asset to your progress--- my college coach used to be the last one on the track with me as I worked on my high jump.  More about that next. . .
7) Every athlete is motivated in a different way.  So back to my coach from Ohio U. He used to get in my face when I was being lazy, just drifting over the high jump bar. He'd say "just jump the damn thing!!"  But he was always there for me!  One time I asked him, "How come you yell at me to get me to do what you want but you walk around with your arm around the other girls' shoulders talking to them?"  He replied, "Because I know you can handle it!"  Not everyone responds to the same kind of coaching!  Each person is an individual and responds to the relationship that exists between the athlete and the coach. . . it's the same in life.   What works for one person may not work for the next person.  A good leader will try to figure out what works with each person and how to get them to reach their full potential.
8)Sometimes the Coach knows more than you do about the BIG PICTURE.  I've learned this from being the coach; as an athlete I don't think I always "got it."  Sometimes athletes want to run what they want to run (or not run as the case may be) for a variety of reasons ("the mile is toooo long," "the 100 is toooo short,"  "the 400 is toooo hard,")  but the coach has a broader understanding of what is going on with the entire team, not just the individual.  Sometimes it has to do with timing, like which events are back to back.  Sometimes it has to do with another athlete who is injured and needs to be replaced.  Sometimes it has to do with work ethic, practice attendance, or sheer guts!  Trust the coach to know what's best not only for you but for the team as a WHOLE.
9) Filter out the noise that is not helpful.  There are lots of voices out there that will seek to grab your attention or distract you from your purpose.  Block them out!  Listen for your coach's voice and let the rest of the noise go unnoticed.  It doesn't matter what others say. . . the advice that other's give isn't always helpful and is sometimes contradictory to what your coach is teaching you.  It's the same way in faith- listen for the Good Shepherd.  He has your best interests at heart and will not lead you astray.  What others say or think about you is incidental to what God thinks about you!!  Obedience to the right voice is key so listen carefully.
10) Relax and have fun with it! My final point is that when we get too serious and forget to have fun it becomes a chore and we lose our love for the movement and competition.  Don't put too much pressure on yourself!!  That's not to say don't work hard. . . simply enjoy the moment.  When life becomes too serious we get stuck worrying about things we cannot control anyway.  When we fail to enjoy our surroundings and think "If I don't win I will just die," then everything within us tenses up and we lose our freedom to be at our best.  We "choke."  So in life, in faith, in sports, in work, in family. . . remember to play!  Playing frees us up to think better and clearer and to be more creative and productive when the time comes to get the job done.