This weekend T had a soccer tournament. For the last, month T has been sick off and on. He was a preemie baby and always has asthma flair ups when the pollen counts are high. On Thursday and Friday, he had to stay home from school because he wasnt feeling well. He was doing breathing treatments around the clock and resting as much as he could.
Saturday morning, he woke up feeling a little bit better and wanted to try to play in the tournament. This would be their last tournament of the season and his last game with his current coach who he's had since he was 8. Saturday games were tough and he had a hard time playing because he just didnt have the wind and couldnt catch his breath after sprinting. After their two games on Saturday (they tied the first one and lost the second), he decided to forego hanging out with the other boys and he rested and did breathing treatments in the hotel.
Sunday morning, they had a must-win game in order to make it to the championship game. Mental toughness is being able to push yourself even if the odds are stacked against you. It's willing yourself to success. T was a perfect example of that. In that Sunday morning game, he was laser focused and his intensity was off the charts. He was nowhere near 100% health wise but someone watching would never be able to tell. He had mental toughness and pushed through and his team got the win and made it to the championship.
So often we fail to have the mental toughness we need to succeed. When things aren't going our way or things seem too tough, we throw in the towel. Life will never be perfect and we will have curve balls thrown away but if we can remind ourselves of our goals and continue to keep pushing, the end result will always be worth it.
They ended up getting 2nd place (score was 3-2); but they came from behind to make it to the championship and played their hearts out to end the season. We couldnt be more proud of them.
