Dear Athlete,

I don’t know a non-cliché way to say this, but your production does not define you.

Before I tell you anything else, or try to coach you to improvement and growth as a person and as an athlete, the best way you can approach any coaching is with a secure knowledge of your worth.

No matter what you do here, you are valuable.

No matter if you’re having a hot night or a cold night, you belong here.

No matter if you make the right or wrong decision, or if you carry regret or shame from past choices, you take important space.

I feel the need to say it because I continue to struggle to believe it about myself, and I don’t even compete athletically anymore. I wrestle with understanding what I am meant to do, why I strive to achieve, and whether I have any worth if I don’t produce something. I find myself grasping for a completed to-do list, accolades on social media, and positive feedback to bolster myself. I may not be a competitor at this point, but the craving for validation and value persists.

Sometimes coaches or commentators talk about players who “produce.” This usually means that you see tangible effects of the athlete’s presence, often in points scored or records set. Sometimes the production looks effortless; sometimes you know the athlete is pouring out all that is in her. Either way, you see the fruits of his or her labor. A player may be difficult to deal with, or have a tough day, or just be unorthodox. A coach, however, may justify a lot of things with, “they can produce.”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve struggled to get loose from the pattern of measuring myself by my production. When I lived too deeply in this frame of mind and injured my knee, I stared at the logical conclusion of what I believed: I couldn’t produce any more, and therefore I wasn’t worth anything.

But you don’t need to dwell in this cycle. You don’t need to become slave to your own production.

How do I escape this? How do I put my mind in a healthy place of seeing myself clearly to take stock of the good, the bad, and the ugly?

I have worth because the God of the universe put breath into me. God gave me the gift of life before I could do anything to earn it.

I remember that God makes good things, and God made me.

I remember that God gives good gifts, like opportunity and challenge and sweat and growth. The honor of participation is a gift to cherish regardless of the outcome.

I ask God to help me lead myself in humility, without becoming too proud in times of success or taking losses too personally.

I remember that God makes good things, and God made me.

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While I can list these truths, I don’t always believe them. I need reminders of what Jesus says about my worth as more than many sparrows, that his eye is over me (Matthew 6:26, 10:29-31). Maybe what you need is a little different: you need to know your body is carefully made by God, or your heart needs renewing as much as your body (Psalm 139:13, Luke 6:45). Our needs may differ, but God wants everyone to have the view of themselves that he has: precious in his sight, and if you believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, then you were delivered from darkness into marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

But we fight the battle for our minds and hearts in a world that is ever against us, goading us to measure up, to do better and be better, to list our achievements or good deeds to justify our decisions or our very existence.

On and on it goes, the struggle to “be transformed by the renewing of my mind,” as Romans 12:2 says. There are days that I win and days that I lose, but I keep coming back to the reminder that Jesus spent time with the broken and the hurting, with those who had nothing to offer the world but their need. I am by no means perfect, but the sacrifice of Jesus presents me blameless before God. I never played a perfect game. I haven’t coached one, either, and I never will. Instead, my goal is to remind myself and other athletes that we are more than what we do in those hours on the field or track or floor, and God, who is so much bigger than us and anything that we can imagine, wants us because we bear God’s image.

And the fact that God wants us is something that can – should! – change the way we talk to ourselves, to our leaders, to our teammates. We can’t take any other truth to heart until we know where we start, and I think God’s view and value of us (read: God’s value of YOU) is a pretty good place to launch.

Athlete, you may forget from time to time, but remember: you are more than your score.

Cheering for you,

Coach Bekah

How can you remind yourself who you are and whose you are today?

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All references taken from the NIV translation of the Bible. While I don’t like throwing in all the references (so cluttered!), the ability to find specific truths is important 🙂