‘You’re bolder than you think, stronger than you look and smarter than you think.’ unabled Christopher Robin (A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh)
When I first read this quote, I remembered the story I read about a young man with extraordinary athletic skills and abilities. Already at the age of nineteen, Rafael Nadal knew that he wanted to be the best tennis player in the world.
It was 2005, winning his first Grand Slam title and jumping to second place in the ATP rankings. He seemed ready for extraordinary success. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of pain in his left leg, the doctors discovered that he was born with a rare disease, which caused one of the bones in his leg to swell and cause severe pain. So his entire career could end overnight.
This sudden reversal of fate thwarted Rafael’s youthful hopes. He couldn’t even walk, much less to play tennis, so he fell into a dark spiral of depression. He spent hours lying on the couch and staring into space, or sitting in the bathroom crying. ‘I didn’t laugh or smile, and I didn’t want to talk. I completely lost my zest for life,’ he said later.
At that moment, Rafael had to make a major decision: he could have given up or continued. He could have chosen the easier path, but he would have lost potential wins on the tougher path. He decided to keep trying, to focus on the victory, even though he saw and felt only a loss at that moment. It was not an easy decision; He suffered more injuries and had difficulties with his leg problem, but his efforts paid off when he became the world’s number one tennis player three years later.
There are times when life will show us a rougher and harder face. Our dreams collapse, hope is lost, and we fall into despair. But even if all the circumstances indicate defeat, we can decide to live by victory. We can decide to manage it day by day, hour by hour, every single moment. We can decide to try again even if we are afraid of failure. We can choose to love again even if someone hurt us. We can decide to give even if we have suffered a loss. And one day we too will ascend from the dark nights into the wonderful sunrise.
E. Sichrovska
