Life is like athletics, athletics are like life. In both we are competing with the people around us to be the best at what we are doing. We all hope to excel. We want the chance to show we have improved, a chance to do our job better.

And sometimes, we only get one shot.

That is a statement that I hate and refuse to accept.

Everyone should give the task their all, and sometimes it is easier to do this if people think they have only one shot.

But when things don’t go so well, I take comfort in believing that the future will bring another chance to demonstrate it is possible to do better.

Scott Johnson, one of our bi-weekly sports columnists, said in athletics there are limitations, and you just have to accept it.

In athletics and in the game of life, the optimistic portion of my mind says, “No way!”

As we approach the World Series, we see the final teams fighting for a chance to be the best ball club in the world. You can look at it as though they may not get another chance.

The teams with lower scores go home with that empty feeling, a void, missing something they really wanted. They are told to accept defeat.

So do you think the first time a team makes the finals only to go home titleless, the players say, “Okay team, we’re just limited. We cannot expect to make it this far again because of limitations. We have to accept it.”

Hell, no. These guys don’t say those things. They go home a little letdown (or a lot) and they try to brush the taste of defeat from their mouths. They hurt. They replay the games in their minds and wonder where they went wrong.

Sooner or later, the players realize that they can’t do it over. They accept that they cannot change the past.

But these guys do NOT accept the past defeat as a limitation for the future. They accept that they won’t get another chance THIS YEAR, but they believe there will indeed be another chance. For ball players, this chance is next season. For life players, it is the next available opportunity.

If people didn’t believe in next time, would people return to the practice field to make the necessary preparation? Would world records be broken? Would wonderful accomplishments be made each year if people simply accepted the idea of limitations?

Absolutely not.

Athletes and the life-players do not accept defeat. They go back to the practice field and work on the things that need improvement. They do this year after year, game after game, day after day.

And those who return do it because they do not accept limitations and because they love it. And because of the non-acceptance and love, they believe they can break any previously set limitations and personal and world records. That is how competitions get tougher and standards get higher all the time.

Acceptance is sometimes necessary, but it is the non-acceptance that keeps athletes and life-players working to become better at the things they love so they can prove it in the next given opportunity. And that hope, my friends, is what keeps everyone going.

---

Amanda Fier is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.