Have you ever won anything? Whether it be as a team, or individually? I am sure you have won at least one thing in your life. It doesn't have to be magnificent such as a championship. It could be something as simple as winning a game. The majority of the people reading this have won before, and therefore know what it feels like to win. Winning feels good... Right? Winning is something you should be proud of... Right? It should make you feel happy... Right? However... NEVER, ever, EVER, should you EVER be satisfied with winning. At least this is my philosophy, and I will explain where I am coming from.
In my mind, the only true win involves accomplishing one's full potential. Have you accomplished your full potential in the sport that you have a passion for? ... I am going to answer this question for you... No you haven't.
Reaching one's full potential in my mind is something that I believe to be impossible. Yes, I said it. The word impossible. The one word that as an athlete, and as a person, should be thrown out of the human vocabulary. I believe that reaching one's full potential is the only thing in an individual's life that is actually impossible (except for a few laws of nature).
Let me indulge further into this impossible concept. You might say, "Why is it impossible to reach my full potential?" Here is the reason. As a human being, up until the day that you die, you have the ability to become better. If you were to reach your full potential, that pretty much means you have no room for improvement. My belief is that there is always room for improvement. Therefore, it is impossible to reach one's full potential.
Then you might say, "Well what about aging? I know as a thrower, eventually my muscle mass will start to deteriorate. Naturally, I will not be able to throw as far." ...You are missing the whole point! There is more to reaching your full potential than throwing a personal record. It is about getting the most out of what you are given. Your right though, naturally your body will start to go downhill with age, but that doesn't mean you stop trying to be the best that you can possibly be! If anything, it should mean that you try harder. Just take a gander at Dan John!
You're probably wondering to yourself, "well, if reaching my full potential is impossible, what is the point in trying?" The answer to this question is that the attempt to reach your full potential is a way to live. Actually, it is the ONLY way to live. Let me put it this way... If you are living a life that does not include making every last attempt to reach your full potential, you are not truly living. Period. End of story. You are merely a tree stump waiting to deteriorate. It is something that will take a good long while, but before you know it your gone. POOF! Then your sitting there wondering what the hell happened to your life. Do not let this happen to you.
Pretty blunt, right? ... Good.
Speaking of impossible... The name of this whole shah-bang I got going here, "Defying Gravity," is also an impossible concept. No matter how hard you try, gravity will always overcome. Gravity will always win. Sucks, huh? But it is the fight to continuously try to defy gravity that will in the end prevail you to being the best that you can be. It will unleash you from the life of underachieving into a new world of achieving greatness. This is exactly the meaning of attempting to reach your full potential, it gives you a reason to fight day in and day out. Although you will never reach it, you will always have something to fight for. It's like adrenaline, the fight-or-flight response. Pretty simple, you're either in or you're out. What's it going to be?
Here's the deal. Winning involves beating an opponent. Your opponent could be really, really good; or your opponent could be really, really bad. Either way, if you are basing your satisfaction off of a win, you are actually basing your satisfaction on the skill level of your opponent. You are basing your LIFE off of other people's lives! This is a problem people! Let's say your opponent is really, really bad. You then beat your opponent, and you are satisfied with the win. What more do you have to live for after this? Even so, we could say that your opponent is really, really good. You then beat your opponent. Who says that your performance couldn't be better? It is my belief that as a person, you can always continue to get better one way or another.
I also believe that never should you ever compare yourself to other people. I know back in high school everybody wanted to be normal, myself included. If you are in high school, I am sure you are going through this same kind of thing. The truth is that those who are normal never do anything with their lives. Obviously they do something, but it is not extraordinary. From my viewpoint, if you don't have the mindset of wanting to do something extraordinary, then what's the point? I don't know. We'll leave that topic for another time. Anyway, why would you want to be normal? Live life to be different! Stop trying to fit in with the crew. I have mentioned this in one of my previous posts that only 5% of the world's population is successful. That leaves 95% of the world's population that are unsuccessful. Guess what? You can call those 95% the crew. What will it be? Do you want to be different or do you want to be part of the crew? It's your decision.
My goal in writing this little rant is to try to prevent you from falling victim to becoming satisfied with winning against an opponent. Unfortunately, I see this situation happen in more cases than I would like to see it. I challenge you to always strive to be the best that you can be. Live your life in a way that you are always trying to reach your full potential. It's actually magnificent how many connections you can make with life and throwing. You can actually make these same connections with life and any other sport for that matter. Anyway, be different. Being part of the crew is a waste of your time and your life. You only have one life, so make it count!
As always, I am open to any thoughts and opinions that you may have. Later!
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