Why does it hurt?
It does not hurt when you lose.
People lose everyday
and never feel that knot in their stomach.
Their eyes never shed a tear.
Then that anger never comes.
These are only felt when there is a passion.
They are felt because there has been hard work
with many hours of sweat and tired muscles.
It the result of trying to become the best that you possibly can be.
It is because you have a goal of near perfection.
Then when it counts you give it your all.
You give a performance that brings the fans to their feet.
You hit every mark that you have learned.
You know in your heart that your performance
was as near perfection as you could give.
These feelings become even stronger
when you become part of a team.
A team that becomes so close from common goals
that you become more than a team.
You build friendships.
You depend on those teammates and
know they depend on you.
Then when the results is less then you strive to achieve
and less than you feel you earned
the knot becomes tighter because you wonder
if you could only have given a little more.
Did you let those teammates, those friends down.
What could you have done more?
Tears come because you care.
You care that you did your best.
You care because you feel trust and respect
for your teammates, your friends.
The tears are for the teammates
that have no more answers than you,
but now you can hug and comfort because
you are part of a team, they are your friends, your family.
Anger follows, because there has to be someone to blame.
With so many questions and so few answers it has to be someone's fault.
When that someone may be from the outside
and you feel that you did your best in every way you can control,
but this outside entity was out of your control
the anger can become more overwhelming.
When you have felt that knot, shed those tears, felt the anger,
you know that you have passion for what you do,
you care about being the best,
you have felt the support and love from your
teammates, your friends, your families.
Do not let these feelings disappear in the passage of time.
It is easy to let the blame on others take away the passion.
Instead use these feelings to fuel higher goals.
Anyone can jump with joy for achieving the ultimate goal.
Everyone should be able to experience this joy many times.
But no true champion has ever achieved the ultimate goal without
having felt the knot, the tears, and the anger.
Once you have felt these feelings
the sweetness of later victories will only be stronger.
It will sweeten the victories in any part of life because
the true champion will know it is not the trophy that is important.
It is the challenge, the passion, the team, the families, the memories.
When the game is done, what remains and means most is the Heartware.
