Tim Tebow. The name probably brought an instantaneous image to your mind. He's been portrayed as a fairly polarizing figure in our sport-crazy culture. People seem to believe he's the truest of winners or totally over-hyped. I have simply enjoyed watching the whole thing unfold over the past decade. I had the opportunity to hear him speak to a large group at the Global Congress on Sport & Christianity recently and then a few hours later take part in a small group Q & A with him. He was very passionate and intense. That I expected. I did not expect him to have been as organized, prepared, and well thought out as he was. That was a pleasant surprise. He made one particular statement that just amazed me. 'I was voted the most popular athlete in America by a major media outlet the same week I was cut from an NFL team.' As I listened to him to speak I was struck with how authentic and secure he was with his success and his failure in his athletic pursuits. His successes and failures on the field have been covered 24/7 by the national media.
Throughout Tebow's athletic career, his message about his faith has been very consistent. His behavior on the field has been just as consistent. What really made me think deep was how I viewed his message about his faith in light of all of his failures and struggles. His consistency in the face of very public struggle with his athletic pursuits since college did not diminish his message at all. In fact, it validated how deeply he held to it. That thought really struck me. When you are trying to send a message, you have to send it consistently. Lots of people will pay attention to that message when you are successful. But when you continue to send it consistently during struggle is when you really prove your point about how important it is to you. It's at that point, that people may begin to believe it should be important to them too.
I don't know if Tebow will ever be successful in his professional sports career but so far, he's proved his point about a far more important message.
A couple questions for you to chew on...
- What message do you want to send to those around you?
- Are you sending it consistently?
- Will you keep sending it even when life makes you struggle?
You will if it's really important to you and then it may become really important to others. Tim Tebow's incredible success on the field gave him a platform to share his message. His on fields struggles after the successes allowed him to really prove his point about what was really important to him.
Do not miss the best chance you may have to send an important message; directly in the middle of your struggles.
Throughout Tebow's athletic career, his message about his faith has been very consistent. His behavior on the field has been just as consistent. What really made me think deep was how I viewed his message about his faith in light of all of his failures and struggles. His consistency in the face of very public struggle with his athletic pursuits since college did not diminish his message at all. In fact, it validated how deeply he held to it. That thought really struck me. When you are trying to send a message, you have to send it consistently. Lots of people will pay attention to that message when you are successful. But when you continue to send it consistently during struggle is when you really prove your point about how important it is to you. It's at that point, that people may begin to believe it should be important to them too.
I don't know if Tebow will ever be successful in his professional sports career but so far, he's proved his point about a far more important message.
A couple questions for you to chew on...
- What message do you want to send to those around you?
- Are you sending it consistently?
- Will you keep sending it even when life makes you struggle?
You will if it's really important to you and then it may become really important to others. Tim Tebow's incredible success on the field gave him a platform to share his message. His on fields struggles after the successes allowed him to really prove his point about what was really important to him.
Do not miss the best chance you may have to send an important message; directly in the middle of your struggles.
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few
degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school
sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated
most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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