These US Olympic Champs Show Us How to Overcome Life’s Challenges

Hey my friend! Happy Sunday!

What a crazy week it has been. Sofiya, Natalie and I went to the Blue Ridge mountains in Georgia on Monday the 29th, and when we got back on Friday the 2nd, we didn’t even know that a hurricane was on the way. 

By the grace of God, our neighborhood didn’t have any flooding, but this is what the gym parking lot looked like after Debby came through.

Thankfully the water didn’t touch the building, but all this flooding forced us to stay closed for 3 days. That turned my short vacation into an extended staycation. Luckily, it was a pretty good time to be home though because I got to see a lot of the Olympics…which brings me to the subject of today’s newsletter. 

Even if you are not a sports fan, I’m sure you can appreciate the amazing physical talent of Olympic Athletes. I’m sure you can also appreciate that in competitions like the Olympics, when the pressure is high and there’s A LOT on the line, you not only see the physical prowess of the athletes but also their mental toughness. This is no more evident than when you see them overcome setbacks and mount a “come from behind” victory. 

Come from behind victories have been described as “the single greatest aspect of competition that most embodies the spirit of what makes sport extraordinary”. I’d have to agree with that, especially after seeing some EPIC come from behind victories for Team USA in just the last few days. 

One was from US Runner Quincy Hall (a fellow Kansas Citian), who was in 5th place after running 300M and came from behind to win the 400M race. Video below: 

Another was from US Runner Cole Hocker, who was also in 5th place and came from behind near the end to win the 1500M race. Video of the finish below:

Then on Thursday, the USA Men’s Basketball Team was down 15 points to Serbia in the 4th quarter of the semifinals. They then mounted an incredible comeback to win the game and go to finals (which they won yesterday). Video recap below:

Now, although things like this are really fun to watch, I don’t share this with you just to entertain you. They are actually very instructive. 

If you’ve been alive for more than a few decades, you’ve probably already realized (maybe many times over) that there are times in life when you are “down” and you need to mount a come from behind victory. Maybe you’ve struggled with a health problem, a financial problem, a relationship problem, or some other type of problem that has made you feel like you were really “losing.” I know I have. 

When we are in these situations, similar to when an athlete is down in a competition, our mental toughness and our resolve gets tested.  And, like athletes, if we can follow certain steps and strategies, we can mount a come from behind victory. 

The first step is that we must refuse to give up. Like these runners and the USA Basketball Team, when we see a “deficit” in our life, we can choose to say, “there’s no way I can come back, so why bother trying”, or worse yet we can say “oh well, losing isn’t that bad, I’ll just deal with it”.  This is often where people get stuck, and we must not allow ourselves to entertain this type of thinking.

We also have to have to stir ourselves up with confidence. If you watch postgame interviews with athletes that came from behind and won, one thing they will often say is that despite the deficit, they still believed they could win. Why is that? If you ask a psychologist, they will tell you that it is mostly based on their remembrance of past victories.  

Let’s apply that to our lives. Think back throughout your life…have you ever overcome anything difficult? Have you ever accomplished anything that was really challenging and had many obstacles?  Have you ever shown a come from behind attitude in any other situations? I’m willing to bet the answer is yes, and even though your current situation may be different, the mental toughness and resolve that you used to “win” in those other situations…is the same mental toughness and resolve that will allow you to win in this one. If you did it then, you can do it now. Believe that. 

We also must keep our focus on small attainable goals. When an athlete is mounting a comeback, they must stay in the moment and think about making one good play at a time. Victories in sports or in life come from having victory in the details, so try to stay focused on just one or two or three things you can do each and every day to work towards your comeback. Keep your mind focused on being diligent in those things rather than on how big the deficit is. 

We also need good coaching. Every athlete that attains greatness has many coaches and trainers along the way. Through these people they learn the best ways to do things to ensure maximal success and we must do the same thing. Whatever the situation is, seek out guidance from experts that can help you navigate through it the best way possible. That can be from books, videos, seminars, podcasts, consulting with practitioners, or any number of other things. 

I hope that gives you some good food for thought. Just remember that nothing truly great in sports or in life comes easy and without some type of fight. It’s kind of weird to think about this, but even just to become a human…you had to race against 50 million other swimmers and make it to your moms’ eggs before they did. This proves that you were a born winner, so keep on pushing…and you’ll keep on winning. 

God bless you!

Chris

P.S. Always know that where we are weak, God is strong. And He is the ultimate coach because He can give us the strength and wisdom we need for any situation we face. Here are some Bible verses about the blessings that come through persevering through hardship. May they encourage you as well-

Top 30+ Bible Verses About Perseverance Through Hardship (biblestudytools.com)