Learn More Compassion, Charity, Determination and Honor

MUSINGS FROM A COACH - 25 MARCH '25

As each passing year brings me more gratitude, I am continually reminded of the incredible gifts that endurance sports have bestowed upon me.

While I was reading an article by Jonathan V. Last, a political and cultural writer, I was surprised to discover that it wasn’t a political opinion piece. Instead, Jonathan delved into the varying differences between youth sports, amateur sports, and professional sports. Amidst this exploration, I stumbled upon an extraordinary quote by him:

"The most important lessons sports teach center around loss. Winning is great. Don’t get me wrong. But a lot of times it masks the internal rewards.

Kids get so high on the thrill of victory that they miss the important stuff, or even learn the wrong lessons.

But defeat? Failure? Injury? Adversity? Unfairness? That’s where the important stuff lives. That’s where we learn compassion, charity, determination, honor."

As I often tell athletes, my best memories are of events that went wrong. These events were tough, no doubt. But climbing out on the other side of them, I continually rediscovered the power within me to persevere and overcome adversity.

For me, those "most important lessons" in sports do seem to come from loss. Yes, the thrill of accomplishing the goal is incredible, and I enjoy great outcomes just as much as the next athlete.

But when things get tough, the pressure of failure rises and adversity and even bad luck all conspire to derail well-laid plans and aspirations during a challenging event - when that tidal wave rises and is seemingly insurmountable, and you still persevere to survive and live another day - that's where "the important stuff lives".

And from that, we might "learn more compassion, charity, determination and honor".

Thank you again, Endurance Sports!

Gratefully, 

MarkCEO Team MPI