Written by With everything in life, there are risks. Getting out of bed in the morning can be a risky move in some cases. Even driving down the street to the grocery store can be a risky option. However, how you respond to those risks can determine your fate in life. In sports, it can come down to the split-second question of, “Do I swing at that pitch?” “Do I take that shot at the goal?” “Do I jump to block that shot?” Or, better yet, the question of, “Do I stand up for what I think is right when everyone else is sitting down?”
I recently watched a video of French speedriding athlete Valentin Delluc as he literally flew over an abandoned ski resort. (For those, like me, who are unaware of what speedriding is, it is a very advanced version of paragliding that uses a small, high-performance paraglider wing to quickly descend heights such as mountains while on skis. See also pure adrenaline mixed with Red Bull to the tenth power.) While I was in absolute awe of his ability and the speed at which he flew over buildings, slid down chair lift cables, and navigated the areas of this resort, I could not help but wonder what possesses someone to even think of doing something like this. Then I realized it simply came down to being willing to take a risk, and probably a serious love of thrills.
It also made me think of the athletes who just recently in the NCAA women’s basketball March Madness tournament who took the risk to stand up, take videos of the differences between their training facilities and the training facilities the men were provided, and to post those videos to the internet. Sometimes risks are not just about racing over the top of multi-story snow-covered buildings at what must feel like Mach 2, but they are about standing up for inequality and doing the right thing. It can be as simple as doing the right thing, even when nobody is looking. Taking a stand is a risky move. You can be ridiculed, ostracized, or, potentially have worse consequences depending on where you live and what you are standing up for. Not taking a stand for what is right is also a risk. When it comes down to whether or not you should take a stand against inequality, divisiveness, or anything that is wrong, remember this, “Realize that what you do and what you tolerate in your presence demonstrates your standards far more than what you say.”
Risk-taking comes down to being comfortable being uncomfortable. I realize that may sound a bit weird, but that truly is what epitomizes those who are willing to take risks, regardless of the situation. Sometimes those risks pay off in big ways, like swinging at the pitch and sending it into the bleachers for a grand slam home run to win the playoff game. Other times it can be a failure, much like any of the number of attempts Thomas Edison made at developing the light bulb, but you never know until you take the risk and try. If the risk fails, what do you do afterward? Are you going to let that failure define you, or are you going to try again and let a successful attempt define you?
Successful athletes, and, for that matter, successful people, do not let failed attempts define them. They learn from those failures and continue trying until they succeed. I would wager that Valentin Delluc had numerous mishaps before successfully completing his speedriding attempt through the abandoned ski resort, not to mention using multiple takes to make it all look seamless, but I can tell you that he did not let any mishaps or failures derail his attempts. The NCAA basketball players took a risk by posting the differences between the training facilities for the men and women, but they were standing up for what they believed in and what they felt was a huge discrepancy. I sincerely applaud them for that and hope that we do not see discrepancies like this in the future.
For young athletes, as hard as it may be, especially for parents, sometimes we need to let them fail at their risk-taking attempts so that they can learn. Let them take risks, albeit calculated risks, but let them try. Let them see you take risks as well, and do not be afraid to let them see you fail either. Coach them, guide them, and mentor them, but let them ultimately take the risks. If they fail, that is where true mentorship can come in. Do not let them dwell on their failure, but show them what they were doing right, help them focus on the positive, and make the negative aspects learning points. Continue to push them to take risks and celebrate with them when they succeed. When all is said and done and we are at the end of our days, would you rather say you lived a safe comfortable life that had no risks in it, or would you prefer to say you took risks, stepped out of your comfort zone, failed at some attempts, and succeeded at others? I know my answer to that question.