#winning

#winning

This term has been made popular by the very erratic Charlie Sheen amongst his many rants. It was very clear to all of us that Charlie was not "winning" (yet he clearly thought he was) and perhaps that is why it has stuck with us as the newest phrase.

Lately I've been thinking about what "winning" really is.... I've been raised in the church where I was constantly told, " you can do anything with God.". We clung onto books like the Prayer of Jabez, and read books that made us a better version of ourselves. You could turn on Oprah and hear about how you can envision the best life and it can be yours if you do xyz.

  It's no wonder that my generation has high hopes and big dreams. We put some of our dreams on a pedestal and think that if we reach it, than we have "won." We take the "ordinary" and feel that maybe it isn't good enough, even in our Christian dreams.....

I was deeply moved and impressed with the movie, We Are Marshall. It was about Marshall University and the tragic plane crash that killed most of their players and coaching staff. After the crash, the university considered not having a football team, no coach wanted to step up and take over such a "hot mess " of a situation. But one coach did, Jack Lengyel. He was quite the character and the movie depicts his arrival and struggles while rebuilding the new program.

The team he had to put together was mediocre and just not capable for many reasons. One of them being, he had to use freshman and sophomores because no legitimate player wanted to be apart of the "hot mess" program either. The movie highlights one of their successful games as an organization.

The scene I will never forget is when the assistant coach (Red) confides in Jack and really is frustrated with the multiple losses. He tells him that losing isn't honoring those who lost their lives in the crash. Jack then states, "Red, it doesn't matter if we win or lose. It's not even about how we play the game. What matters is that we PLAY the game. That we take the field and we suit up on Saturdays and we keep this program alive."

Jack didn't take this coaching job to be famous or to do great things with his career, he took it to lose multiple games (his final record was 71-74), to be ridiculed, to be.......ordinary. But his goal was just to show up....that was winning to him. It wasn't the score on the scoreboard.....he kept the program alive. He didn't think to himself, "one day I will write a book or go to the Hall of Fame, or make a big movie." He was just being himself and living his passion. All those things did happen to him but he wasn't motivated by that, he wasn't in it to be a hero, he was in it to give of himself.

How on earth is this related to me? Well, I get caught up in "winning.". I measure myself by looking at the scoreboard and seeing if I have the bigger number. I can use God as my mask of selfishness and greed. But I'm so grateful that through this life I can just "show up" and win. I can show up as my ordinary authentic self and just live this life passionately. I have been turning this blog into a score and I want to apologize to you for making your heart and soul a stat. I pray that I can just be and love without making you into a number. I have heart for this blog and it can be turned into greed for something bigger. If God has bigger plans than so be it, but for now.....I show up and THAT is #winning.