Dear, Athlete

Who are you? a player? Aren’t we all in this game of life?

What do you do? Strive? Don’t we all in this world?

Perhaps this name you carry—ATHLETE—embodies the way you occupy space here. It offers an identity, woven inexplicably in the fabric of who you are.

You may deny or be indifferent to it. Don’t do either.

Delight in this beautiful game where you experience creation, discipline, camaraderie, defeat, relentless passion, & joy. 

Delight.

But when does the game you play begin to play you?

When do you lose sight of the line between fight and fear?

We often label our actions as pursuits for the outcome we are working for—a Fight. The reality is that there exists immense fear behind our actions.

Be attentive to the drive behind your pursuit.

You feel victorious? Wonderful! you will soon feel debilitating defeat.

You feel called? Amazing! you will soon feel inconsolably out of place.

You are exactly where you want to be? Great! you will soon realize there are worlds not yet traveled and you may never get there to see.

Don't let comfort or discomfort determine the place this game holds in your life. When you begin to ask, "is it worth it?" begin the work needed to define "IT"—the real pursuit and the cost it takes to get there. You will find winning is often not worthy. Many goals are often not worthy.

I hope for you to come to the place where “IT” becomes the process, the pursuit, the chiseling, and defining…then everything is worth it when seen in relation to the growth of your personhood. This is when the game starts becoming a mere means to the real END.

So when the time comes and you are face to face with the fear, don’t turn away. If your sport has taught you anything let it be to stare down the challenge. 

That’s all this fear is. A challenge. It does not define you but the way you respond to it very well may.

Did you know there is freedom? On the other side of fear.

When the fear comes and tightens, that is the best time to let go. As it enters in to rob you of joy, peace, and trust, that is exactly the time to chose freedom instead.

Yes, you have a choice.

You determine the place this game holds in your life. You are creative beyond comprehension and you can destroy just as easily as you build. You can make beauty just as easily as you make a mess.

This game, you commit to, has a way of chiseling you down to bone and blood, of forming euphoria & constructing a world that is neither separate nor apart of the real one. It contains all of life but somehow it remains set-apart. It is a sacred space where you experience the elements of life…but do not mistake it for life itself. It sets the stage and brings the instruments but it is not the show.

Because, after all, this game is just life disguised as a sport.

When you find that your vision is becoming smaller and smaller, fight for perspective.

What, you ask, brings clarity & perspective? When you find out, let me know. Clarity is a beautiful mystery. Sometimes it takes little and other times it takes much more…but look up so you can see when it comes. When that scenery becomes old—the picture is clouded, and you are tired of the view— look up. You may find that you were squinting far too long at the forehead of the Mona Lisa.

I want you to experience what cutting bondage feels like.

You may not see the ropes clearly. Look for them.

Find out why they linger and remember that you are capable of binding and breaking equally. Be awake to that truth. 

Don’t live in a reality where you only exist in light of this game…where your quality of living is dependent on the outcome of your effort or excellence. 

There is an allure to excellence. But you cannot box up excellence, cannot define greatness. Be careful not to belittle this experience on Earth to winning, losing, achievement or failure. 

Breathe in the highest highs and the lowest lows because this game may just offer you a look into yourself. Be awake to that. All the fear and bewilderment and anxiety were already in you. This game is just bringing it to the surface for you to see. That is the real game. That is the real victory: seeing all the people, statistics, growth, and obstacles as a vehicle for sight. This game is a vehicle. Don’t treat it as the destination.

There is so much joy on the other side of fear. You are so much more than who you are in this game. But, this game may just unlock freedom for you to carry into any and every experience you face in this life.

As you look at this sport and what it has for you, acknowledge that just by facing it you are proving it is not you. It is not YOU but it can be used FOR YOU. 

Use it. 

Use this game to discover, create, & accomplish…knowing all the while that those terms are not contained in certain outcomes. Engage in this game knowing you & you alone dictate if it is an “end” or a “means to an end”. Remembering that one holds bondage and the other unlocks JOY.

I don’t wish you success or failure I wish you contentment despite either.