The Audacious Torch

It is inexorable. The path is relentless.

At some point in your journey as an athlete, you'll face the choice of what to dedicate yourself to. Every year several athletes approach me with some version of this question… should I stop playing this sport so I can throw all my efforts into the one I love the most?

I answer with the very words my dear man Rob Bell once told me, “…you can do whatever you want to do.”

Too often we hear great things from great people in life and we cling to their perspective as our own without ever stepping back to examine whether or not it fits. Years go by before we realize the very thing we see the world through has skewed our perspective on this life. And we end up down a path we never wanted to walk.

Athletes tune in for a second.

The real truth here is you can decide to do whatever you want. You are in charge. If you want to choose to skip school today and drive to Colorado to the see the Royal Gorge, you can do it. Granted, there will be consequences for choosing to skip school. But the reality is you can do anything you choose.

You are in charge of your destiny.

Not your coach.

Not your parents.

Not your friends.

You.

You are the one who can decide what to do for your future. The sooner you realize you are in control of your life, making the best decisions for your dreams, the better.

In all honesty, too many of us - parents, coaches, and athletes - are likely carrying a torch that flamed out aeons ago but the heaviness of responsibility kept us strong arming down the path, stumbling as we move along bumpy terrain on new moon nights. Luminance is long forgotten.

We deceive ourselves into believing that the fading glow from the once-vibrant flame meant to illuminate our path still manages to cast shadows. The longer we walk dark paths with a dimming torch, the more frustration sets in within our spirit because we can’t fathom why we are clumsily stumbling forward. Be it a gradual dimming, allowing our eyes to acclimate, or an abrupt vanishing, the darkness remains intertwined with our journey. It’s vital that we gather the courage and willingness to step back and assess the situation, rather than affirming the veiled version we’ve persuaded ourselves to endure.

The reality is our torch is either no longer burning or its nearing its last breath. Whether it was a slow fade or it was dunked in the river, the flame’s radiance has faded. A mere echo of its former splendor. The byproduct of the faded flame in the athletic world is diminished performance.

Once ablaze with purpose and passion, now we plod along through the darkness burdened by a lifeless torch, its flame faded, its spirit dimmed. When the flame dims, so do we. The energy we expend dragging this hollow torch with us is like polishing brass on the titanic.

So, the question we face, “What do I do with this torch?” Throw it out with the garbage? Frame it and hang it on the wall like sports memorabilia commemorating our greatness, epitomizing the phrase “back in my day”?

Perhaps the best option is to finally recognize dragging around a snuffed out torch doesn’t make us noble. It makes us a walking hazard tripping others on the path. Mistaking movement for leadership and our stubbornness for grit.

But, we must face the realization that the flame of some torches are meant to die. Their obsolescence isn’t a failure. It’s the universe extending a hand. Our real responsibility isn’t to coax more life from a fire that’s lost its passion to burn. The audacious thing to do is to light a new one.

So ask yourself the difficult questions.

And break the torch over your knee if you must.

But don’t confuse carrying dead weight for carrying light.

It’s time to learn that the courage of pursuing greatness isn’t clinging to a dying ember.

True courage is recognizing when to let go.

To pick up a new torch.

To move forward down a new path.

Because the journey won’t wait for who you were.

It demands the light from the fire you’ve yet to imagine.