I USED TO play for myself. I USED TO play for the media I USED to play for the recognition I USED To play for my parents satisfaction That was what I use to play for.
Now I play for HIM
Playing with a purpose- When athletes are asked “Who do you play for” many say for the team, for the school, for the organization, for their parents, coaches, for deceased loved ones, etc. Now there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s great and all but along with playing for all that…I play for HIM. And that has given me more satisfaction that any newspaper article, media coverage, or recognition could ever give.
You see that’s what I use to play for: Media attention and peer recognition. I would put pressure on myself to perform well when the press were at our games. Of course this failed. When I had a good game, I would spend all night stalking the local newspaper websites waiting for an article to show up. When I would read the article and see my name shown, I would feel satisfied and glad someone recognized my accomplishments. When I would scroll through an article and not see my name, I’d be angry and wonder what more I would need to do to get recognition. I was so obsessed with getting attention from media and peers. I wouldn’t consider myself successful unless my name showed up. I was infuriated when my teammates got all the attention even though I did well if not better that game. I had this thought process of,” Of course no one recognizes the Center Fielder. Everyone just recognizes the pitcher and home run hitters.” An awful mindset to be in. I was the one with the full ride scholarship to play D1 softball. Where was my recognition? When people asked about our game, I’d say the highlights and usually throw in something I did well, hoping to impress someone. I would especially do this around boys hoping they’d walk away thinking damn she’s good. That was what I played for.
Now I play for the most important critic, Christ. I play for an audience of one. And even though it is just one person, that person is far more important than any big crowd. I use sports as my platform to glorify him. You see at the end of the day, his opinion and his judgment is more important than any recognition anyone could ever give me. If my performance is satisfactory to him, then at the end of the day that’s all that matters. I put myself in this mindset, that he is watching me every game and I need to give my best performance to make him proud. This has truly changed my game. He gave me this talent to glorify HIM and not myself. A saying that has stuck with me is “He gave you the talent and he could easily take it away”. I try to think about this while playing because it makes me give my best effort because I’ve been blessed with the ability to do something I love and he could easily take that away from me. He is also my biggest supporter and believing in HIM has made all the difference. Remember you can do all things through Christ who Strengthens You. (Phil- 4:13)
I hope that in ALL things I do glorifies him and through me, you can see Christ. Softball is my way to express all the good things the Lord has done for me. By Playing for Him it has given me the confidence to play well. It has also given me a good mindset that if he is satisfied with my performance, then no one else’s opinion is more important. He is the most important critic and hopefully I will be able to glorify him through Softball for many more years. I thank him everyday for my ability and talent in the game and his satisfaction is far more satisfactory than any Newspaper Article.
Try your best, you are playing for your biggest fan and your biggest critic. If you don’t play with full effort, you are wasting your gift. And if you have a rough day, there is always tomorrow
