3 Life Lessons I Learned from Sports
Oxford’s online dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” In my eyes, sports are so much more. Some people may limit sports to being just for entertainment. I see it as the groundwork and foundation to vital lessons and keys for life.
Sports can change lives for the better and give opportunities to those who are less fortunate. Sports can help people build relationships and long-lasting bonds. Sports can bring people smiles, laughter, and memories that last forever. Sports are etched into history, and the competitiveness and instincts they instill are priceless. Sports reach far beyond any team or individual competition, and into each and every one of us for our daily survival.
Growing up in a house with all boys made me become a fierce competitor — from as young as I can remember. I quickly learned to hold my own, and speak up for what I believe in and how I feel. As a single mother, my mom put us into sports at a young age so we could receive guidance and the male presence she could not provide us. While playing sports definitely forged unbreakable bonds, it also kept us out of trouble and on the straight and narrow.
One of the first lessons I learned in life came from my early experiences with sports. YOU CANNOT AND WILL NOT WIN ALL THE TIME! In my first taste of organized sports, I didn’t experience a lot of losing. But, I was taught winning doesn’t come easy, and I have to work hard at it to get it right.
Winning felt great. But, losing helped me realize inefficiencies and areas of improvement. Losing helped me appreciate winning even more. My biggest takeaway: it isn’t about how you lose, it’s was about correcting mistakes in preparation for the next game or test in life. It isn’t about how many times you lost either, but it’s about how you get back up and try again.
A second life lesson I learned from sports and still live by to this day is to give everything 110%. I learned the best way to lead is by example and you never know who is watching and taking notes. I learned all of this at a very young age. The quickest way for me to get anyone on board with something was to show them it works and I believed in it. My first sports team was for flag football. The team was known for winning. They won two championships before I ever even picked up a football.
As a five year old, I believed in the system my flag football coach taught us. His system was successful — we won three championships. As a second year player on that team, I had my first taste of leadership. The easiest way to get newcomers onboard was to show them I believed in the system. I said if they followed it, then we’d continue to win and we did. I’m unsure who else I inspired by giving it my all and going above and beyond the call. As I grew older, I saw the importance of being the last one out of the gym after practice and the last one to leave the office —after checking team stats.
The third vital lesson I learned from sports is that we are all the same. I was taught to never quit and never back down from someone because of their size or appearance. I was also taught to never under-estimate someone for the same reasons. It’s not about their outside features, but about what lies within the person.
There have been many games where I thought we didn’t have a chance, but I never gave up and stuck to the game plan — leading to victory. There have also been those unfortunate times where I was reminded of this life lesson because we looked at the other opponent and took them for granted — ending with a loss when the final buzzer sounded. One of my basketball coach’s favorites sayings was “they put their pants on the same way you did when you woke up this morning.”
Overall, in order to win, you have to believe in yourself and know you can do whatever IT is. The same can be said about life. While we are not all dealt the same cards in life, it is all about how we play the cards we are dealt and use our resources. Someone may seem to have an advantage, but it is about how deep you can dig and how dedicated you can be to perfecting your craft. In the end, in every situation, hard work and resilience still pays off.
— Jonathan Waddell
