One Guarantee This Season

There aren't many guarantees in life, especially in athletics. My Junior year of college I thought I was on my way to reaching my goal of becoming a National Champion when a torn ACL ended my season half way through. When that happened I had to re-evaluate my entire off-season training strategy for the next year. I would not be able to do what I wanted to do. I had to find new ways to get better through watching film and visualization. If there is anything that can be guaranteed in wrestling and in life, it is that things will not go the way you want them to. Something is going to go wrong and you will have to find a way to deal with it.

Right before Jesus was arrested and taken to be crucified, he made a promise to his disciples. He said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Although most of us will not be murdered for our faith like most of the disciple later were, I believe Jesus' promise holds true for everyone when he said "you will have trouble". My experiences in life and wrestling have only confirmed this fact. Just like during my my Junior year of college, something is going to go wrong and you will need to re-evaluate your plan.

Since we know that trials will come, the issue is not "if the trials come", but "when the trials come". Will we grow from them or will we be broken by them? I believe how we respond to adversity is a preemptive choice we make. We must choose to grow from whatever adversity comes our way, before it happens. How we handle adversity will either be a competitive advantage for us or a weakness.

We must have the mindset that anything that happens to us is the best possible thing that could have happened. This mindset is what makes great wrestlers return even better after they get injured. (Kyle Dake, Jordan Burroughs, Brian Realbuto)

One thing I love about wrestling is is how well it correlates with life. Wrestling is going to give us trials to overcome the same way life will; and how we handle adversity in wrestling will be a good representation of how we will handle adversity in all areas of life.

It is also wise to remember during the trials we face this season, that the trials we face in wrestling are small in comparison to the trials of life. That is why Jesus said "take heart! I have overcome the world." When we go through adversity in life we know we can overcome, because follow a God who has already overcome the world.