Some people are blessed with lives full of accomplishment and joy. Others simply live, doing only what is needed. They may possess the ability, but the drive is not there. I used to be pessimistic, but the loss of playing football made me realize the real extent of my athletic abilities.
You might wonder how someone becomes more productive when he loses a beloved part of his life. The answer is motivation. Losing one’s dream makes him find a substitute.
I lost football. To some, that may seem a petty loss, but it affected me in a special way. I loved the game so much that every night I dreamed about playing. My love grew with every game I played, but that love came crashing down the day I lost my game.
I’d gone to the doctor for my routine pre-season physical and he asked if I had any diseases or ongoing medical problems. I hesitated before answering with the words that changed my life: “I have a blood disease that prevents my blood from clotting.”
A few weeks later football started and the coach approached me with a letter from my doctor saying I should not play any contact sports due to the high risk of injury. I tried to plead my case, but it didn’t work. Coach told me to clean out my locker and hand in my pads.
I stormed through the locker room as my anger grew. By the time my parents arrived to drive me home, my eyes dripped with tears. I thought my life could not go on, but sometimes good things come in mysterious ways.
A few weeks later, I sat down with my parents to try to find an activity that could take my mind off losing football. A few odd ideas flew around until one of my mom’s suggestions caught my attention: competitive swimming.
The following week I joined the school’s swim club. At first, I felt intimidated, seeing everyone swimming faster than fish, but this dissolved the second I hit the water. I started out pretty rocky but worked hard. The coaches placed me in the lowest squad; children aged seven and eight swam past me as I struggled through the water. Soon though, the children began to fall behind me, and I moved on to the next squad.
I went into the next group with the basic ability to swim, but without speed. My technique needed work, and my conditioning also needed to improve. The group pushed me in both ways until I was a respectable swimmer. Once I could keep up with this squad, the coaches moved me up again.
The new group pushed me even more. I discovered that if I wanted to succeed, I needed to work harder than ever.
Needless to say, I went places. I practiced on this squad for two years and then moved on to high-school swimming. I surprised myself and my school by qualifying for states in my first meet. The season fell into place as I continued to dominate in all my meets. With an eighth-place finish at states in the 100 butterfly, I ended my season.
The next year the amazing part of my career began. I swam with three other men and broke the school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay. We participated in states, achieving a respectable fifth place. I also took fourth in the 100 flies to round out my swimming career.
The loss of football made me compete in another sport. The moment I lost football, I found my true talent. The loss allowed me to love another sport even more than I had loved football. Through loss, we can actually ga
