Love It All

PAWS FOR THOUGHT

Volume 1 / January Issue

Topic: Love It All

by: AD - Cole Cooper

    There are many ways champions set themselves apart, but none may be more important or more powerful than how they see the challenge and adversity that accompany their winning pursuit. It’s easy of course for any of us to be our best when things go according to plan, but real, meaningful achievement - in sports and in life - almost always requires us to navigate some detours and roadblocks along the way. It’s here in these moments that we see what separates the very best from everyone else. Champions don’t just tolerate whatever comes. They embrace it. They use it. They love it all - even the hard stuff.

This winning mindset originated from a Stoic philosophy, an ancient Greek and Roman belief in the latin phrase “Amor fati” - “love of fate” or “love what happens.” The Stoic perspective was simple, that everything in life - even the challenge and adversity - has something valuable and important to teach us. That the hard stuff has meaning and significance in the process of helping us reach our potential, and that we can’t become our best without using it to our advantage.

This perspective isn’t always easy, of course, but it is empowering. It’s not that hard for any of us to feel victimized by the adversity we face or to use it as an excuse for bailing on our pursuit. But champions are committed to seeing things differently. They’ve accepted that doing something awesome requires a significant price to pay, and that overcoming some adversity is built into that price. It’s part of the deal. 

Champions see challenges as a chance to compete, as an opportunity to be taken advantage of. They see that tough moments don’t define them. They see that moments like those are actually refining them into the type of person that winning requires them to be. They see that someday, looking back, those moments that crippled many others will be what catapulted them to success. The writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau famously said, “It’s not what you look at that matters; it’s what you see.” That's so true. Both losers and champions are looking at the same challenging experiences, but what they see is entirely different. That simple idea highlights the power of our perspective.

Recognizing that power and choosing to love whatever comes is so important because despite our desire, things rarely go according to plan. The voice of our inner loser has a tendency to create for us a naive picture of effortless success. This ignorant approach sets us up for failure when things inevitably get tough. The voice of our inner champion, on the other hand, clarifies the important role adversity plays in our achievement. It sharpens our perspective and allows us to embrace those challenging moments. It helps us learn and improve in the midst of our struggle today, so we can become more worthy of winning tomorrow.

The good news for each of us is that we get to decide for ourselves the perspective we choose on any event or experience in our lives...even the really tough ones. That should be good news today, that in this important area, you can do what champions do. Other people have to decide for themselves what they’ll choose to see. They may criticize or ridicule you for choosing to embrace, to use, and even to love a tough moment as a positive part of your experience, but that’s up to them. They have to make their choices, and you have to make yours.

So that’s my challenge and encouragement for you today. Recognize the power of your perspective. Decide up front that you’re gonna embrace whatever comes today…then figure out why. Decide that what you’re required to go through today is good for you…then figure out how. Decide that the challenges and adversity that accompany your winning pursuit have something important to teach you…then figure out what. Do what champions do and commit to “Amor fati.” Embrace it all. Use it all. And love it all.

Coach Coop