‘Tis the season for championships and heartbreaks.  An inexplicable lightness and joy is found in the satisfying accomplishment of a major goal, and heaviness is found in a drained heart after leaving every fiber of being on the field.  No matter the numerical outcome, peace can be found in knowing you and your teammates, or your athletes and fellow coaches, gave it your all and did so together.  No matter the standings, the placement does not define you, nor does it reflect the way in which the game was played.  Each point on the board represents so much more than a number, which offers no justice in portraying the work, effort and awareness that went into earning each respective point.

Right before the championship game in A League of Their Own, Coach Jimmy Dugan had this response to his star player who told him she was leaving because “it just got too hard” – “You know I really thought you were a ball player…Baseball is what gets inside you, it’s what lights you up, you can’t deny that…It’s supposed to be hard.  If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it – the hard is what makes it great.”  Not everyone makes it to the championship round, and when there, not everyone ends with a run or goal more than the opponent.  What a privilege and an honor to win the desirable big game.  Win or lose though, the love of the game and all it entails hooks us in pursuit of potential and the rush of big wins.

A belief in something greater provides reason and purpose for this pursuit, no matter the outcome.  In the halftime talk of the championship game in Friday Night Lights, Coach Gary Gaines offers this message to his players:

“Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there.  It’s not about winning.  It’s about you and your relationship to yourself, your family and your friends.  Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth.  And that truth is you did everything that you could.  There wasn’t one more thing you could’ve done.  Can you live in that moment, as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart?  If you can do that gentlemen, then you’re perfect.”

Aren’t we all yearning to be perfect and at peace in search of the Truth?  We all, in our individual ways, hunger for that sense of peace found in trust and belief in something greater than ourselves.  That coveted trophy tangibly represents the hard work and sacrifice endured in search of Truth, yet no material object can encompass one’s true belief in that which dwells within us all.  Truth is present no matter the size of the trophy or lack thereof – it lives in your heart and beats within the hearts of your teammates and coaches on a collective journey for your perfection lived out in Truth.