The Courage of Mariah

I once knew a soccer player who was one of the greatest goal scorers I had ever seen. Mariah's team could always rely on her to get a goal or two. Even in the biggest games against the best teams, her team could count on her to make sure that they walked away with one more goal than their opponent.

But the most impressive game that I ever saw Mariah play was in a state championship game in high school. It wasn't impressive because she played a great game, it was impressive because she struggled all game but never quit.

In this game, Mariah was matched up against a big, physical, and fast defender. It seemed like she was knocked off her ball every time he touched it. She couldn't get anything going, she couldn't do anything right, and she couldn't beat this defender. But Mariah kept moving, she kept working, and she kept asking for the ball. She never stopped. You could tell she was frustrated, but she just kept pushing through.

With a few minutes left in a 0-0 game, Mariah finally made a move to beat the defender, she attacked the goal, and she put in a shot that bounced off the goal post before crashing into the net. Mariah kept pushing through until she finally got her goal, and that goal made her and her teammate's champions.

What I learned at that moment was that the best isn't the best because they are perfect. Sometimes the best are the best because they just don't stop. Mariah could have easily put her head down, pouted, and quit. But she didn't. She just kept pushing. She knew that it only took one special moment for her to break through and score her goal.

I wonder how hard it was for her to keep trying to beat someone who kept taking the ball from her? I wonder if she felt fear? I wonder if, at some point, she became fearful of receiving the ball and fearful of trying to take her on 1 v 1 because she kept getting beat? I wonder what made her keep going?

It takes courage to be great at anything because being great at something requires taking a risk. There is going to be some failure, and there is going to be some adversity. But like Mariah had in this soccer game, you have to have the courage to keep trying, because if you keep trying, you will breakthrough.

This story reminds me of the wonderful Maya Angelou quote:

Having courage does not mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage means we face our fears. We can say, "I have fallen, but I will get up."

Mariah kept getting up. She probably kept saying the word 'courage' in her head over and over again, especially when she felt fear. We have to talk to ourselves so that we have positive thoughts going through our brains and not negative and fearful thoughts.