If I asked you where heaven was, most of you would point to the sky. When I was a young boy, I imagined God sitting on some throne in the clouds watching down on us, boy, how times have changed.
No, I haven’t lost faith, I believe.
As soccer players, coaches and parents, belief is important and goes hand in hand with success. Without belief, staring into the heavens will only give you a stiff neck.
Soccer success can only be achieved through failures, set backs and heart ache. Soccer experience and to some extent wisdom can only be achieved from the School of Hard Knocks.
Stop looking at the heavens.
The greatest lessons in Soccer have not come from Championships, victories or the money. The greatest lessons are taught when you’re pushed against the wall, when the chips are down and when it feels like your head has just been pushed through a brick wall.
What about the pain that shutters your skull as your head hits the black, muddy surface as you try and save your front teeth. When the referee leans over and counts 1-2-3 and tries to get to 10 before you get up. To put it mildly, my greatest lessons have not come from my time in the sun, far from it.
Neither will yours, you’ll see.
My objectives and pursuits in life are decent, but my life, my injured knees and my thirst for something bigger, better will always leave me susceptible to the knockout blow. But will I ever throw in the towel? I strongly doubt it.
Life will always call me, try and manipulate me, bring me back down to the canvas, back to my little room that I call home, filled with little experiences of joy and haunting memories, but you’ll never count me out.
So if you’re down and nearly out, get up and take the standing count, re-group, and put the mouth guard back in.
No one is going to hand you a million dollar contract, you need to fight for it. Maybe a soccer player is something you need to “get into” rather than aspire to.
Enjoy the days in the sun, but learn from the days in the dirt. What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. Aaargh, clichés, they sound great but offer no support.
In loving memory of my uncle Laki, may you rest in peace.
“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars.”
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