Handling Adversity

Down by 10 and your best scorer just fouled out.  What do you do?  Trailing by two touchdowns late in the game and your quarterback goes down with an injury.  How do you respond?

Do you concede defeat?   Do you give up?  Or do you respond by playing harder, by giving more of yourself? 

What do you do when faced with adversity?  How do you behave?  When things go wrong, how do you respond?

The high school football game that I most remember from my own playing days was one that we lost.  A close game, back and forth.  Our best defensive player went out with an injury early in the game.  We messed up the coverage and allowed a punt return for a touchdown.

With the best efforts of both teams--it came down to the last seconds of the game.  Probably the better team won.  I don't know.  I do believe I gave it my very best effort.  It was likely my personal best game in high school and the best game for my team.  (BTW, the team we were playing was MHS, who won the state championship a few games later.)

The bottom line is that in most games adversity is going to happen.  Somebody misses an easy shot on goal.  A fumble or interception.  A double fault.  Missing a gimme putt.

How you respond tells a lot about the strength of your character, about your integrity. 

A lot of it depends on your mindset, how you approached the game.  I've seen teams that take the field or court with a confidence in themselves, in their ability as a team or as an individual to respond to adversity, that nothing can shake them.

They might fall behind early.  Those bad things might happen.  But they fight through it.  Sometimes it brings out the best in them.

Your level of commitment has a lot to do with it.  How committed are you?   How determined are you?  Are you willing to sacrifice for what is best for the team?

I played defensive tackle for most of one game in high school.   We had injuries to our first four defensive tackles.  We were behind in a game and as a linebacker, our defensive tackles were getting me killed.   I went to my coach and asked him to let me play tackle. 

He did. Now keep in mind that I was a little bigger than I am now, but not much.  And lined up across from me was an offensive lineman headed to the University of Kentucky.  I have no memory of really how I did.  Oh, in my mind, I think I did fine but true memories fade. 

I do know that we were behind in that game but made a comeback and made it a great game.  And I don't know what part I might have played in that comeback other than the fact that I was willing to give up my natural spot (linebacker) to try and help the team.  I'd like to think that was my shining moment.

The bottom line is that when adversity comes your way, in life and in sports, don't you quit.  Keep fighting.  Allow it to become YOUR shining moment.

John Greenleaf Whittier's poem Don't Quit says it best.  "And many a failure comes about when he might have won had he stuck it out."