I have a lot to be thankful for, and if you’re reading this then you’re included in that.
As an NFL Patriot, in a season of losing, it would make sense that I let a reality in my life determine my gratitude. Going through a losing season is testing, and I won’t shrug at the real facts that it hurts. Yet, even in a season of losing, I have a lot to be thankful for.
I’m thankful for the ability to still serve. I’m thankful for life. I’m thankful for my family. I’m thankful for my team. I’m thankful for the Live Love community. The list could go on and on, but the reality is, that whenever we are in a losing season, it tests you. Losing seasons test the human character. Losing seasons expose strengths and weaknesses – they reveal where growth is small. If you’re reading this, you may not be an NFL player, but you know what a losing season feels like, and you know that it’s the dark seasons that develop you for the future.
If you've ever shot with old school film, then you know that photos don't develop in the light. They develop in the darkroom. Things become clear and defined in the darkroom, and we are much the same.
Losing seasons test the human character.
For me, I’ve had to allow these days to refine me, to shape me and not act as a barrier but as a propeller for growth. If you too are in a losing season, are you responding to it or reacting to it?
Losing seasons make a way for a few opportunities for growth in our lives:
Losing seasons create an opportunity to expand our love for ourselves. Losing seasons require a greater measure of grace, internally. Because of the holistic difficulty that comes in a difficult season, one that impacts the mind, soul, and spirit, it’s a chance to learn to love not just those around us, but ourselves. It’s easy to love yourself when things are going well, but when the tide changes, who is your biggest enemy? Oftentimes it’s us, and a losing season makes space to evaluate how we see and treat ourselves.
Losing seasons also teach us how to combat shame. It’s natural for a losing season to bring with it accusations, but the trick of shame is that it only comes to impede progress. Shame will use self-pity and discouragement to put a stop to the growth that’s happening in you. Yet, the reality is, growth happens best in the digging and the grinding of a losing season.
...are you responding to it or reacting to it?
If you’re walking through a losing season yourself, I know it can hit harder during the holidays. This Thanksgiving, I’m working to embody a lifestyle of gratitude–one that allows for growth, not stifles it. For me, this is what carries me through winning seasons, and losing seasons.
Join me in it, will you?
I’d love to know who I can be praying for if you’re also in a losing season. Drop a comment if it should be you.
Live love,
Ty