No one wins all the time. It may seem like certain individuals or teams win way more than their share and to a certain extent that may be true. There are streaks and dynasties and multiple championships. Outside of the playing field people may have great success at business or politics, or win the beautiful girl. Success is fleeting and certainly temporary. But the truth is that no one wins all of the time.
It seems as though there is much more losing in our world. Everyone loses, even the very best at whatever the endeavor might be. There are streaks here also, some of them devastating to future success if you allow them to be. Some losses, whether in athletics, family, business or whatever can be much more difficult to overcome. In athletics, a championship game that looked to be a sure victory that ended in a defeat can drain people emotionally and affect them for a long time. An athlete's promising season that ends in a serious injury can be as hard on that player mentally as it physically.
The only people that never fail are the ones that don’t try.
There have been great people who worked very hard and have done great things, but never reached the top of their game, or their profession. There are a lot of factors involved, and sometimes we don’t have control over all of them. This does not make them less of a coach or businessman or athlete compared to those fortunate ones who through better circumstances found themselves at the top.
But sooner or later everyone gets beat up to the point that just rising can be difficult. The single hardest thing to do in life is to suffer a devastating defeat, get knocked to your knees, hurt and embarrassed, and get up off of the ground when others are doubting you and create success once again.
In athletics, we call this a comeback.
We will never be defined by our great successes or terrible failures, but ultimately we are defined by our comebacks.
Everyone will have some success, even if it is limited. Everyone will fail at times. But not everyone can make a great comeback. It takes character with a huge dose of determination. Most of all it takes belief in yourself. You must have the ability to ignore the past while learning from it, but to see the opportunity of the future when no one else may believe in you.
High School football players go through great defeats throughout their lives- sports, injuries, drugs, divorce, business failure and the list goes on. What football should help teach them is the value of believing in yourself to the point that in those times you only think “comeback.” You have to think it and you have to believe it and you have to make it happen. You have to keep a vision of your comeback in front of you at all times. For what you see in your head when you get up everyday is crucial to the success of your comeback.
The great Ohio State coach Woody Hayes once said that "there can be no great victories without great adversity."
We will never be defined by our great successes or terrible failures, but ultimately we are defined by our comebacks.