Either Way, You Are Going To Pay

Either Way, You Are Going to Pay

It seems hard to believe, but nothing of value in life is free. As a matter of fact, if someone helped you and footed the entire bill, chances are you wouldn’t appreciate it like you would if you had some of your own skin in the game.

One of the most challenging lessons for young athletes to grasp is the need to pay the price to improve in the off-season. Some off-season programs are quite regimented, while others are fairly relaxed. The players who embrace a challenging off-season see significant improvement because they pay the price a little bit every day. This is the pain of discipline.

Other players, who assume that all is well and unchanged, often stroll into the off-season lacking discipline, focus, and effort. As a result, when camp rolls around, they are unprepared for what lies ahead. Their pain level is intense because they are both physically and emotionally unready for what they are experiencing. Because they chose to play instead of pay, they come to the new season in debt, unable to keep up with the progress that others have made. As a result, much of the game passes them by and keeps them on the sidelines. This is the pain of disappointment.

There is a pain associated with making right choices and a pain associated with wrong ones. Proverbs 2:21-22 states, “For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it. But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.”

Choose your pain—discipline or disappointment. Remember, you can pay now or pay later, but either way, you are going to pay.

Only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it. But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.

Proverbs 2:21-22