You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. –Martin Luther King Jr.
In the world of sports and in the game of life, everything becomes much more free when we begin to understand to “trust the process” and appreciate that we don’t need to know all the details. Most often, we aren’t actually going to know all the details of how to win the national championship or where we are going to end up in one year, let alone 10 years from now. Learning to trust the journey of whatever path we are on allows us to get into the flow of being present with where we are in each moment.
We will often find that the more we try to control situations, in a game, or in life, the outcome will turn out much different than what we are trying to control. Having this control and narrow view can also leave us blinded to exactly what we are looking for. When we are so focused on living a certain way, or playing a certain way, we remain closed to any other opportunities that are presented. It is my belief that everything happens for a reason, although we may not understand it at the time. A good friend and business partner of mine, Laura, was a Division I volleyball player at Penn State. She ended up transferring to UCLA after her second year in college, where she suffered from multiple injuries, which ultimately prevented her from playing after college. Although this wasn’t the intended path in the beginning, it led her to where she is today. After graduating college she was in Los Angeles and recovering from her fourth reconstructive knee surgery. While on crutches at the airport, she met a friend who assisted her with her bags and introduced her to the nutrition and fitness industry. Now, she no longer plays volleyball, instead she is leading a multi-million dollar per year business where she is able to inspire people, including athletes, to live a healthier lifestyle and to be the best version of themselves in athletics and life.
Although this path isn’t what Laura had initially seen for her life, having faith and trusting that the opportunities and difficulties faced led her to where she is thriving today. Without trusting what comes our way, and having an open mind, we can miss some of the greatest gifts that life has to offer. No one wants to suffer from a knee injury and be stuck on crutches, but without being on crutches, Laura would have never met her friend who introduced her to the career and lifestyle path she is on today.
If we taken back down to a smaller scale, we must know that games aren’t always going to turn out the way we say. Throughout a season, there can be injuries, bad calls, new players and players that leave the team. Being able to accept that we don’t always know every step along the way will allow us to trust that anything that happens is part of the journey to our greatness.
