Archive for October, 2005
Change of perspective
by R F on October 31st, 2005
I’ve been training kids in athletics for almost fifteen years now. What has kept me going that long is the feeling that there is always more to learn, always more to do and, of course, an endless stream of kids which I can try to help in their strive forward, both results-wise and mentally.
The problem - and the challenge - is the strive towards perfection. As we all know perfection cannot - by definition - be reached by any human being. So this strive has two sides to it, it gives you the reason and motivation to continue forward, since there is always room for improvement. On the other hand you can never, ever, be really satisfied with anything you do - you are too busy finding the flaws and trying to correct them.
This strive, once it has really set root in your mind, can really be a curse, especially when you hit a bump on the road - when thing don’t go as you wish, the energy runs out and you enter a depressive state.
When you have hit the bottom and try to get out, if you still have the perspective where you look - search really - for things to improve within yourself things get really difficult, since you are never able to live up to your own image of what ’should’ be done. This struggle demands a different perspective, you have to be able to be happy about really tiny things. Every step in the right direction - however small - needs to be a source of inner satisfaction.
Sometimes I think it would have been better if I never had gotten into athletics, or maybe it would have been harder - who can tell…