Lessons from an Athlete: The Heptathlon

Alright, so this might end up being a several part blog, but this topic has been weighing heavily on my heart lately, so I felt that it was time to therapeutically blog again.

In college, I was a dual-sport athlete, competing in basketball as my primary sport, and then finishing out the school year by participating in track and field, another one of my many loves. I sometimes did the heptathlon, an event that takes an overall score of 7 events including the long jump, high jump, javelin, shot put, 100m hurdles, 200m dash, and 800m run. I also participated in several individual events, some of which, including the javelin and long jump, I qualified for NCCAA (which is the National Christian College Athletic Association) Nationals various times in my college career. Now my experience in college has overall been an interesting one, and I am sure there will be several blogs to come reflecting on that experience. However, I came from a large public school, competing at the 6A level in Oklahoma, which actually had some very competitive track and field accomplishments, to a small Christian college. I was even recruited a little bit at some upper division (D1 and D2 NCAA) colleges (though, I might mention not heavily or with lots of money on the table--small scholarships, but still kind of cool that I was wanted on that level).

It was extremely humbling to in the first place attend a school that had 500 students total from a high school where my graduating class was about the size of the entire school. This.... did an interesting bout on my self-esteem/confidence for my athletic ability. I could never shake off the fact that no matter how well I performed at basketball at this school, or what I did on the track field, there were divisions overwhelmingly better than me. That it really was not special to accomplish anything while being at this size of a school, unless, of course I was doing crazy awesome marks that would actually compete at the higher levels. I never felt good enough for the standards I wanted to live up to.

It is one thing to stay humble, but it is another to constantly beat yourself up even when you are doing your best for the situation. I have a major problem setting unrealistic expectations for myself as well as never being happy with what I do accomplish. Now there is an extent to which not getting complacent is a good thing. However, I am overly critical of all that I have done and accomplished.

I need to learn to be content in the situation, and just praise God for the opportunities I have been given--which I have done a lot more this last year as a Senior than I have done before. I have to realize I am not the best and cannot attain the best in some of these skills and sports--and I need to be okay with that. God has given me more than enough, and He has blessed me with an overwhelming amount of talents that I can use to glorify Him. And that's what athletics is for, ultimately, at least for me--is to bring Him glory, to be a light and connect me to others, as well as be a method where God can teach me many things that He needs me to know for what He wants me to do.

There are exciting levels, and recognition at every level-- and to do your best at the level you were blessed to have opportunities at, you need to be grateful for. Now that does not mean to think too highly of oneself, or to even get complacent. That is just to say, be grateful for the opportunities and the accomplishments wherever you are. Because, they happen for a reason. And, it is true, that there is always someone better, and another record being broken. And that is exciting--but ultimately where does a gold medal or a broken record get you? Some recognition that is exciting for a short while. A name in a history book. So does winning a conference championship. A 4x400m relay at a small college. It goes in a history book somewhere. It gets applauded by someone. It is all exciting, it is all special for a moment. For a moment. But then it is gone. It is a beautiful thing, but just for a brief time to be savored, and then allowed to move on, until the next winner the next year, or the next time the record is broken. We as people are going to constantly get better, and we are constantly forgetting what is behind us. These thoughts remind me a lot of the sentiments of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:11


11 "No one remembers the former generations,
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them."

Ecclesiastes actually imparts a lot of great knowledge, and I encourage everyone to read the book in its entirety.

Now, from track and field, and from basketball, I have learned to enjoy the moment, though I did have trouble with that with my competitive nature, wanting to win, and wanting to be the best. It has been a part of my flesh I have had to greatly sacrifice in order to act as a Christ-follower should, to put others first, to put other things above winning, and to give up a lot of personal glory. Again, I will need to write multiple blogs probably about my basketball career.

However, the crux of this blog is the discovery of a balanced humility, denial of oneself, as well as a very important sentiment I felt the Spirit impart on me as wisdom as I sat thinking, frustrated about something that I think was probably more important to me than I would like to admit. Like I said, I competed in the heptathlon. I was ranked 8th in the NCCAA coming into Nationals. Coach did not put me in the competition because I did not do as well as we would have liked in an earlier meet. However, I am frustrated because several of my events I had not competed in or practiced in 3 years until the upcoming 4 days before the meet. Which is not enough time to prepare for 7 events, at least in my mind. I feel that even just getting one completed and being able to complete a second one I would have scored better in multiple, if not all my events. Further frustrations fed into my emotions when my Dad was questioning it, and we had looked to see some of the results from the heptathlon at nationals the first day. I would not have been last, which is pretty cool at nationals just to be there, much less not finish in last place. Plus, I probably would have scored points for the team, finishing at what I last did, not taking into account any improvements likely to have transpired. I do not know why coach did not at least put me in it to see what I could do. But oh well, it is too little, too late (this being the night after the first 4 events in the hep). But, as I was questioning things and just frustrated as to why I was not competing in this lovely event, a thought came to my mind.... That, sometimes, simply venturing to where very few people attempt to even go, you can achieve something great. There were not many heptathletes. Simply finishing would have put me somewhere great, scoring for the team, and being able to say I was top 6 or so in the NCCAA for the heptathlon.

Sometimes, just by going somewhere no one else is willing to go, Christ can do HUGE things through you. You can accomplish things that the average joe will never come close to. This made me feel better, as well as got me to thinking about the things that we can accomplish in our lives if we are just willing to let Christ lead us to the places that no one else will go, but where we have to go, for Him. We will accomplish great things for the Kingdom, for His glory and things that no one else was created to do. Beautiful. Christ has put so much value and worth into each one of us, it is incredible. And being the best at throwing a javelin, or the fastest 200m runner, does not change that worth; and nor does being the worst. It is whether or not you are willing to follow Christ's calling to where you are supposed to be for Him. That is what makes you great--Gets you talked about and standing out.