“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” ― Robert H. Schuller
I think that one of the biggest reasons why people enjoy watching sports so much is that we love to see our heroes do the spectacular. What football fan does not like to watch Peyton Manning lead his offense down the field? What baseball fan is not in awe watching Craig Kimbrel throwing 95 mph fastballs past opposing hitters as he closes the game out? Love him or hate, it is hard to deny that LeBron is one of the best ever to step onto the basketball court.
If you like the combat sports, how can you not like José Aldo? He is pound-for-pound one of the best fighters in the world today. Fight after fight, he keeps beating other great fighters to show how good he really is.
While all of these sports require very different skill sets, there is something that all of these athletes have in common. What we seldom get to see is the athlete’s intense preparation that goes on behind the scenes. As the the quote above suggests, the preparation is unspectacular.
We all love to watch our favorites perform at their best. We also should all seek to perform at our best, whatever arena of life we find ourselves in. It is easy to dismiss the times of preparation and think that we are wasting our time. In reality, it is the times of preparation that are getting us ready for the next time we are going to be challenged.
Embrace the times of preparation, training, and equipping. Never think that you are wasting your time. When I was in Law Enforcement, one of the phrases that we would often hear around our training time was, “The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in life.”
How do you respond to the unspectacular process of preparation?
Would you join our support team as we serve the Lord in Brazil? Just click here to get involved. Obrigado!
