In two weeks, my softball career is coming to a close- at
least for this season. Our team had to
endure a zero win streak and while I am competitive by nature I had to learn
that winning isn’t everything. My
highlight was the night that my fan club came out to watch and I actually
scored my first run! After each game I
would tell my nephew our awful score and he would laugh and shake his head. Soon I discovered that through our low
performance my team made many people happy and we turned into a philanthropic team
that through losing brought joy to others (smile) including ourselves. We learned to have a positive attitude and
laugh at our silly, inexperience softball moves. While at times some of us became discouraged
there was always our assistant coach to cheer us up and while the hope of winning
one game never escaped us we realized that for our first season we had a great
time. While the score didn’t show our
improvement- I know that through practice I learned a great deal and grew as a
softball player. Just losing my fear of
the ball was a great first season victory!
My idea of success and in this case winning always had to do
with the final outcome, but I realized that what’s important is the
transformation that happens during the process.
Losing creates a platform for learning and a great opportunity for growth. It takes great confidence to smile and
congratulate the other team on their win and great character to adjust your attitude
into a positive one. It also promotes
humility – the person that can laugh at his shortcomings is fun to be around. In addition, for Christians we know that loss
makes us dependent on God and hopeful that He will provide according to His
will. Loss makes us vulnerable and more
likely to seek God and be open to Him. We
have Job’s example of loss to the grandest scale, yet the process of Job’s losses
makes him utterly dependent on God. We
learn more through loss than we do through winning. In the end, Job’s faith increases and God
rewards him tenfold. Similarly, God
wants us to become better versions of ourselves and sometimes He uses loss as a
method of education. I know that through
the death of my brother I transformed into a better person and became a
believer. I know that through my bipolar
disorder I became dependent on God for healing and value others that are
struggling with disabilities. I know
that through the most painful experiences and losses my faith grew and some of
my bad qualities metamorphosed into godly virtues. Of course, when I am going through the fire
it’s hard to smile, but as I continue to grow in godliness I hope one day I
will reach the stage in me that will confront loss with happiness and complete
trust in God.
Our Awesome Team.
Celebrating our loss and my Run!
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