The Reality Check. For when S#!t Happens, as it inevitably does.
Have you ever considered, when reading the motivational pieces of writing that focus on all things positive spread across social media, that sometimes s#!t happens? We see so much positive chat with little thought for what could and can happen. You can’t control it, but you can control how you react to it. This I call the “Reality Check”. It’s the consideration that more often than not things are not going to be perfect and occasionally it simply sucks. It’s the circumstance in a game where your opposition score and then they score again and it doesn’t matter how hard you try but you are being outplayed. It’s the injury you really didn’t need. It’s the error by a team mate that leads to a loss. It’s all part of the game, and it sucks.
The reality check exposing us as being mortal can hurt and it can throw a spanner in the works of our confidence. It happens. Don’t deny it; don’t think that you are above it; don’t think that you can avoid it. Accept it, embrace it and learn from it. S#!t happens and we need to deal with it. The greatest part of it happening is that we do get to deal with it, because it all of a sudden becomes a great learning opportunity. It’s how we react to these uncontrollable situations that defines us as a person and athlete. It’s about your perspective. We all have a choice, and the choice we are most accountable for is the one we make to situations we can’t control. We can point fingers and blame; we can jump in the pool of pity and swim around for as long as we want or we can choose to learn about ourselves and we can learn how to deal with the emotions and mindset that ensues. So, instead of swimming in the pool of pity when s#!t happens, take control of it and learn.