Yesterday while driving home from my weekly monday b-fast date with my 2 daughters a really cool though popped into my head. As the chaplain for the Nat'l sport centre in Calgary, for some time I'd been pondering what faith based services have to offer that's different from sport psychs and other centre offerings. The thought I had was, "A coach develops the body, the sport psychologist the head, but a chaplain...the heart."
As I pondered this, I realized how significant this thought was. True drive and motivation can only come from out of the heart. Superficial goals like medals, teams, etc. have limited benefit to motivation, but a true heart felt drive can effectively move an athlete beyond comfort zones into new areas of success.
A sport psychologist can help with various mental coping systems (relaxation, visualization, etc.), but how many have ever asked, "why are you doing what you're doing?" If you think about it it's a pretty important question! All the hours, sacrifices and effort....and you've never even pondered why?
When you discover why, hopefully it'll be a compelling enought reason to produce a true fire within. One that gives meaning and purpse to every workout and race. Granted..you may not like what you see. It could be vanity and selfishness. It could be a weak self concept that is in a desperate search for love and acceptance. Maybe the question "why?" never gets asked because of what might truly be found deep down there.
A Christian athlete will hopefully find their meaning...the answer to "why?" in their love and gratitude for their Saviour. When you realize it's about Him, not yourself. Bringing attention to Him and not yourself...it's at this point you've entered into a whole new realm of heart felt purpose and meaning.
Of course it's easy to say this...and many athletes may try to include it in their playbook either because they think it's the right thing to do, or it'll help them perform better. But to truly tap into this higher reason for living and competing the most important training activity you can do is spend time with God, developing a love relationship. From there the true purpose will flow out of the heart and into a passionate performance.
Interestingly, later that day I found myself riding alongside 4 friends as they bike tripped from Calgary to L.A. One of them an old friend, one an aquiantence and 2 others new. One was a retired bobsled Olympian (as were the other 2). She asked me what I'd tell her if we'd met earlier in her career. What would I tell her about the chaplaincy and why it's there. No brainer now...God already told me that morning what I was suppossed to say-just didn't know to whom, but now I did. We're there for the heart!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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