I’m posting this because I know some of you need it.
I’ve needed it at different points.
Eric Thomas is an incredible motivational speaker; Google him, one of his most-watched youtube videos/speeches were filmed here in VB.
He talks a lot about dealing with pain.
I was talking to one of you the other day and was explaining one of the best things my experience at the Naval Academy gave me was the ability to deal with pain.
Most of my time there was painful,
It was painful academically because I was not a good student.
It was painful to struggle on the basketball and deal with pain of losing at the one thing I worked most of my life for.
It was painful do deal with rules and restrictions,
It was painful to be a square peg smashed in a round hole,
It was painful to be away from home for so long,
It was painful to miss the mark and come up short so many times,
Eventually it was over.
It took five years but eventually that pain ended.
I didn’t know it at the time but that five years gave me a skill set I have come to be very thankful for.
The ability to understand that pain is temporary
This lockdown is painful,
It’s stressful to many of you because you don’t know what will happen.
Many of you have lost your jobs,
Some of you may still lose your jobs.
The stress of the unknown and loss is painful,
But it will eventually be over, life will resume and we will have a gift we didn’t know we needed or wanted.
As silly as it sounds, it’s very similar to what you have done thousands of times in the gym already,
You manage the pain of those last couple of rounds because you know it will be over eventually.
Keep your head up and know that eventually, it will be over and things will be okay.
