Comfort is overrated.
Settling is for the lighthearted.
It’s the single worst thing to do in any sport and in life.
“Don’t settle.”
My high school cross country coach would tell me those two words before every single race I ever ran.
The man taught me almost all I know when it comes to sports. He taught me for six years of my adolescence and although I haven’t been under his supervision for almost three years, he is always still ‘coach.’
Those two simple words can be related to anything. In a race, if you settle, you get caught. Plain and simple.
Settling means becoming comfortable with a certain position and only being satisfied with the present. It is giving up on the chance to be great and only allowing for simply average performance.
Settling is too easy. It’s easy to get caught. To be satisfied with the present is not hard, because you don’t have to worry about pushing a little bit more.
We have all been prisoners of it at one time or another. Sometimes there is just no avoiding it. And for those who seem to never get comfortable, they are the victims of greatness.
Could the Anaheim Angels settled for a loss in Game 6, after being down 5-0 in the seventh inning with the Giants on the verge of a World Championship? Sure. But that would have been too easy.
The Rally Monkey emerged and the Angels found their magic. They were not about to watch their first World Series Championship opportunity in 42 years stare them down without a fight.
And look at them now. They are World Champions. They found greatness in small places and didn’t settle for anything less. Who would have thought a 24-year-old who moved up from the minors at the beginning of the season — John Lackey — would win Game 7 of the World Series? I didn’t.
Comfort and greatness do not belong together. They just don’t go belong in the same sentence. And to settle is to take second place, or worse.
Will Emmitt Smith settle now that he has the NFL career rushing record? No, he’ll probably just utter a sigh of relief. My guess is he will rush one more season, if not two, and will hit 18,000 yards.
Could the Oregon football team settle for another Pacific-10 Conference loss after two in a row and thinking that the perfect season is over? Yes. Will they? Of course not.
These are examples of greatness. Examples of never settling for anything less than the best.
Settling doesn’t relate only to sports, but is a matter of everyday life. Relaxing is great and comfort every now and then does no harm. But if you settle for too long, you will miss out.
Accepting a current situation in life is simply a cop out. I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense to me. It is simply an act of the weak at heart.
We can always become better than we are. Chances for greatness arrive at our doorstep everyday. Do you open the door to accept the challenge? Or do you settle down in the couch and get comfortable?
Settling relates to the sport you play, to the grades you get, to the relationship you are in and to the life you live. It is too easy to settle for average when anyone has the chance to be great.
People like Emmitt Smith, John Lackey, Troy Glaus, Walter Payton and the Oregon Ducks all tested greatness. They got off the couch and opened that door and took the challenge to become what they are.
It relates to us all. For me, I have taken my warm-ups off and am making sure the laces on my spikes are tight as coach comes over to remind of those two little words. I am reminded that I have to push the entire way to the finish line.
If you remember just one thing, remember this.
Don’t settle.