Remember the opening of ABC’s Wide World of Sports? Jim McKay’s iconic voice saying, “The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat”. I can hear it now, and see the ski jumper crashing.
It’s an exciting time of year. Tournament time for high schools, colleges, including March Madness on the horizon.
Many will experience defeat at some point. Competitors don’t, and shouldn’t, like to lose but what it can reward us with in the long run sometimes comes because of the defeat.
Remember March 16, 2018?
A #16 seed had never beaten a #1 seed in the NCAA Basketball Tournament until that day. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers not only beat the overall #1 seed Virginia Cavaliers but beat them by 20 points.
In his post game press conference Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said “If you learn to use it right, the adversity, it will buy you a ticket to a place you couldn’t have gone any other way.”
Fast forward 388 days to April 8, 2019. The Cavs had squandered a 10 point lead in the final minutes and trailed Texas Tech by three.
Virginia forced overtime with 12 seconds in regulation and went on to win the NCAA championship in overtime. They used the ticket bought with adversity a season earlier.
To become all that you can be you will have to go through the darkness of defeat at times to get to the joy of victory.
We enjoy the joys of victory but it is the tough times, the dark times, that make us stronger, better, who we really can be, and the opportunity to be better.
I’m cheering for you.
#leadership #motivation #coaching
#bebetter #beblessed
Made For This Moment 