This was a brief post I wrote on Facebook a while back. A friend just informed me that it had a really positive impact on her, so I feel compelled to share it again in the hopes it might help someone else.
Let’s compare two sports: track and American football.
Both sports involve hard, intense running that takes its toll on the body. You work hard and you push your body to its limits. It isn’t easy.
In football, though, some of that running is done — a lot of it, really — while pushing against a sea of bodies all blocking your way, impeding your ability to reach top speeds. And crowds applaud the movement of the line even a few yards because those folks are clawing their way through. We don’t expect them to reach the same speeds as folks running around a track. They are up against more but working just as hard. Of course they won’t go as fast.
Some look at a person living with mental illness or a physical disability and forget that person is playing football while they themselves are running track. Both are living lives that have challenges, but in football, a lot of extra energy is required before one can break through the line and run at full force for the end zone. Given time and teamwork, it can be done.
We are not all playing the same sport, but we are all athletes. Work your hardest. Play your hardest. And let’s cheer for each other. We all need to know someone is in our corner.
Peace,
Mary
Three At Home 