Sports is such a great metaphor for life. There are so many themes we can learn from.
Countless examples in sports of men & women who’ve come back from physical injury, who were lauded as heroes. Just happened in the SC Final w the Knights & Jack Eichel – who came back from disc replacement surgery in his neck. The team’s captain Mark Stone came back after 2 major back surgeries where he looked like a shell of himself. Both celebrated as heroes in the Vegas parade this wknd.
Peyton Manning was adored as he took the Broncos to a Super Bowl after neck fusion surgery. Tiger Woods after a twice broken leg brought home the US Open, grimacing in 2008. The list’s a mile long.
When an athlete goes thru physical pain, we see the actual pain – then we see the comeback, & in our eyes, they’re heroes.
But we often have NO idea what they did to deal w the pain while they were coping & even during their rehab. Physical pain can often be masked very privately.
Emotional pain, especially bc many of us don’t even know what it is at first, our coping is often maladaptive in a very visible & public way. Our behaviors change. We become short. Angry. Impulsive. We snap. We even do things like gamble or make risky decisions – anything to make the pain go away.
The issue is – once our coping is SEEN, we get labeled as “that guy/gal,” & the reputation follows us. No matter the heroic comeback from the depths…no matter who we help.
Why’d this comparison come up now? Our buddy Theo Fleury is up for the Hockey Hall of Fame again in a day here. The Hall has kept him out despite: SC Champ, Olympic Gold, 1000+ games 1000+ pts. His stats speak for themselves as a HOFer. But…
He was raped over 150 times by his coach as a 16yr old. Emotional pain made him cope maladaptively as a player: drugs & alcohol, short temper, etc.
So, he came back from immense emotional pain from acts brought ON to him…now helps many thousands directly w their MH…but bc of his behaviors while in pain, he’s damned & kept from the heroic status those w physical comebacks enjoy?
The comeback from emotional pain IS heroic, despite our coping behaviors during the pain.