I love sports – watching and playing them. The competitiveness, the epic plays and the elation of winning, it’s invigorating. 

Of course, sports are so much more than just games.

To the professional athlete earning a living, it’s a career; to the amateur baller or rink rat, it’s a healthy workout; and to the elderly couple at the baseball game reconnecting to their youth, it’s an exercise in mental health. 

Not only that, sports teach us some of life’s most important lessons – they teach us how to win with humility and lose with grace. 

• Sports, at all levels, help us form unbreakable bonds;
• they teach us to trust our teammates while boosting our confidence; and 
• they show us the value of dedicating yourself to a single craft.  

It goes beyond the playing field as well. 🏈

In October 2018, Drew Brees set the all-time passing yards record in the NFL. Following the record-setting game, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints was caught on camera embracing his three sons, while imparting the wisdom so many of us have heard from our guardians. 

“You can accomplish anything in life if you’re willing to work for it.”

Did I mention life lessons?

When the odds are stacked against you – you’re up by one in the ninth inning, but the bases are loaded and Casey’s at bat – you have two choices:

Give up or give it your all. 

Sports, and their connection to our basic instinct for survival, teach us that giving up isn’t an option. 

Even if Casey hits that grand slam and you go home a loser, sports teach us how to get back on our feet and dust ourselves off – and how to grow from the experience of failure. 

Sports show us the importance of being prepared and demonstrate why mental fortitude is just as important as physical strength and athletic ability. They prove why putting systems in place help you navigate unfamiliar territory, and that luck is just being prepared for opportunity. 

“You can accomplish anything in life if you’re willing to work for it.”

Your dreams are there for the taking – are you going to earn the right to them? 

The game is afoot!

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