As one who loves sports, I know I can get better. I know I am not “the” best. I can see the difference between myself and professionals. Their intensity, pushing limits to the edge, and ability to endure are orders of magnitude greater than what I bring. I know there is room for improvement if I am willing to receive instruction, practice, fail, receive correcting instructions, practice, and repeat the cycle again and again. I know I will never reach the destination even as I find joy in the journey.
As etched in my awareness and understanding of these truths are in my ability to compete, the understanding seems to have natural limits. The awareness and question I wrestle with is quite simple. Yes, I can improve in sports. However, can I improve as a man in the way I live?
With time and the help of several good friends, I have come to believe in my ability to be a better man. The lesson took a while to sink in. It was almost as if I had to abandon the idea that I would keep making mistakes, to understand the opportunity each mistake and experience offered me in learning, growing, and reaching for something better. This is not a statement that I had failed. Rather, whatever I was, I could be better.
Integral to the awareness of more, were two other lessons. For me, it began with the idea that I would open myself up to another’s guidance. With the encouragement to trust, I took the first step. With the validation that it was safe to trust, I opened a door to awareness, understanding, and asking for help. It was in this lesson I rediscovered an old psalm; “See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong – then guide me on the road to eternal life.” (Psalm 139.24)
The second part was in how the lessons would always continue. Whatever I am in this moment, can be better in the next. It may take a lifetime, but a superstructure is what I am aiming for.
