Blindfolded Preparation

I’ve never gotten my head around the seasons in the world of sports and how they flow from one to the next. Football looms as baseball fades. Hockey and basketball will coincide soon enough and overseas, undoubtedly there’s respective times for Soccer, Rugby and Cricket. If the metaphor is accurate, I’ve come to believe that life too has seasons, although not nearly as predictable.

The changes from one season to the next can be dynamically jarring or stimulating and the ignition voluntary or involuntary. One constant, however, is that seasons will never cease to move us toward change. As an avid basketball enthusiast, off-season has always interested me as I watch, read and listen to stories about the behavior of players who aren’t in the thick of competition. How are they preparing? How’s the rehabilitation? Are they shooting a movie instead of putting up a thousand shots a day? Is the athlete addicted to destructive behavior (i.e. promiscuity, narcotics, illicit business practices, etc…)?

I ask the questions and watch behavior because I know that you, the pros and myself all have in common that seasons are inevitable, forcing us to face new realities. For the exceptional, I’ve seen guys like Dikembe Mutombo (Center-Houston Rockets) develop himself through philanthropy which literally means “love of people”. Using $15 million of his own money and raising donations to build a hospital in his hometown, the Congolese capital of KinShasa, Mutombo has prepared himself for the unavoidable, post-basketball phase of his life. Online sources say that the idea to build a modern hospital in the Congo was conceived more than 10 years prior to its ultimate completion. Surely people suffered during the season when quality medical care was unavailable in that region but the season that has followed is bringing new hope to thousands .

Whatever season you’re in takes courage, resolve and foresight – all things that are core character elements. I’ve seen and am seeing how the persistent commitment to developing who you are is the ONLY preparation for a season yet undefined. When the details of future events evade our awareness, and they always do, you have but one recourse. Commit to developing a spiritual core that will allow you to compete with the threatening conditions of the season. The sun shines today but there’s a Sunday game in Green Bay in sub-zero temperatures.

People say sometimes, “How do you seem so calm with all this going on?” Take a close look at anyone and you’ll see that they’re troubled from time-to-time but seeking truth is the basis of preparedness in a world that never calls timeouts. And spiritual truth is what offers hope. At least it has for me. No tricks. Just truth. Seek it before, during and after any season in which you find yourself. If you’re lost, you should probably start asking questions.