They thought it was all over … all sportsmen and women face tough times, whether it’s a career-threatening injury, loss of form, family circumstances or just finding you’re out of favour with your team manager, selectors or coach.
How do you cope when nothing is going right, and you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel? It’s a question we’ve been asking Planet Sport Football Africa listeners – and they’ve come up with some great advice, from both a psychological and a spiritual dimension.
Fridah in Kenya has three ways to combat tough times. “First, possessing a powerful positive attitude towards the situation and accepting the reality of things which are beyond my control,” says Fridah. “Secondly, I believe prayers do wonders and can turn anything and everything from negative to positive. And thirdly, I ask for help from friends and those who can help me during the tough times.”
That’s a great combination:
1 Denial is no good, you have to accept the reality of the situation
2 Looking beyond yourself for help is fine – you don’t have to shoulder this burden alone. For followers of Jesus Christ, prayer is essential and invites God to act and be involved in our situation. We need our feelings of negativity to turn positive, to hope and recovery.
3 It’s one thing being independent, but there is strength in revealing our vulnerability and asking others for help. A community of people, whether it’s family, friends or neighbours, are inter-dependent – sharing the load, helping one another through tough times.
Medlove in The Gambia finds hope in the words of the Bible: “I find my strength in tough times in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. In the book of James, chapter 1 and verse 2 it says: ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
Few of us seek out trouble and difficulty, but often it’s only when we learn how to get through these times that our character is developed, and we build our resilience and ability to bounce back. It’s been said that success doesn’t always come to the most talented, but to those who refuse to give up.
There’s also a wise comment from Mwiinga in Zambia, who says: “One thing is for sure, tough times do not last but tough people do.”
And for followers of Jesus Christ, the ultimate example of this is Jesus, who went through the agony and sacrifice of death on the cross on Good Friday, only to return to life on Easter Sunday, bringing forgiveness, resurrection and the promise of eternal life for those who follow him.
His love, hope and inspiration give us fresh strength to win through when tough times come.
• Listen to our PSFA show where Nigerian defender Tyronne Ebuehi (pictured above) talks about how he coped with a 2-year injury lay-off and returned to action