Throughout our lives, from grade school through high school, regardless of the sport you played or activity you took part in, you no doubt heard from your teachers or coaches about the importance of attitude.
More often than not, you certainly heard classmates or teammates being called out for having a negative attitude…or perhaps you yourself experienced it from time to time!
It almost gets to the point of cliche, but let’s take a moment to look at it from a different, more positive angle, and from a swimmer’s perspective.
You can never really predict what’s going to happen when you dive off that block with a season of hard work under your belt. Training (in any athletic endeavor) isn’t an exact science, and there’s always the chance that things won’t go exactly as you want or expect.
Sometimes you exceed your wildest hopes, and other times you seem to inexplicably fall flat.
How you respond to victory or defeat is ultimately what defines your season.
Are you going to be a rotten egg or a rubber ball?
When a rotten egg falls and hits the ground, it causes a terrible mess and an even worse smell, and the harder it hits, the more widespread the nastiness will be.
When a rubber ball hits the ground, it’s only there for an instant before rebounding skyward, and most important of all, the harder it hits the ground, the higher it will bounce.
This applies to both negative and positive outcomes. We all know that one someone who is a rotten egg in the face of disappointment. They are not fun to be around, always complaining and moping and feeling sorry for themselves, dragging everyone around them down.
So too are rotten eggs after a great victory, boasting, bragging, beating their chests, and causing resentment among their friends and family.
But someone who is a rubber ball will take what they learned in defeat and use it not only to motivate themselves to go at it harder the next time, but as valuable experience and knowledge. They become stronger, and ultimately, more successful, because of it.
Likewise, after seeing tremendous success, a rubber ball uses that momentum and energy to rocket themselves to even greater heights. Sure, they enjoy their well-earned rewards, but are never satisfied and always looking for that next challenge.
So, no matter the outcome of your upcoming meet(s), are you going to be a rotten egg or a rubber ball?
Great article Kevin!