I’ve never been very good at sports so I hardly ever play, usually. BUT for some reason, I’ve been really excited to play volleyball these past couple weeks, whether with the kids at Jireh or with YWAM staff here at the base.
The first couple times we played, I was struck by the similarities between the way I live life and the way I play sports. Even though volleyball is a team sport, all my focus is on me and each rare chance that I make contact with the ball. Usually it ends up with the ball flying off in the opposite direction and then I spend the next several moments mulling over how bad that last hit was, not at all paying attention to whatever else is going on in the game. Sometimes it means that I totally mess up the next hit as well because the ball’s flying right to me but I’m too busy thinking about my last failure to even notice. Sometimes that means that I get bopped on the head with the ball.
I live life the same way — often mulling over my blunders and failures and what other people might be thinking of me. I tend not to fully engage in the game (or certain aspects of life) because I know there’s a high chance that I’ll mess up and I don’t want to look stupid in front of people. My teammates then have to step up and pick up my slack.
I’m realizing that messing up is pretty much inevitable, especially when you haven’t had much practice and your skill level is at zippo. But with each hit we learn, and the game keeps moving on. I’m learning that we can’t let our failures take our focus from the game or rob us of the opportunities to try again that may be flying right to us. I’m also learning that there’s tons of grace for poor players like me. One bad hit (or even twenty) doesn’t get you thrown out of the game (or life).
Playing volleyball has been a lot more fun this week. I’m starting to get better at keeping my head in the game — watching the ball and my teammates instead of focusing on how I did in that one instant and what others might be thinking of me. I’m still far from being a pro but I’ll keep playing on…
