Are you hurt or injured? Insight into Perseverance

The NFL playoffs are underway and this is the time of year when players don’t want to come out of the game. They are asked by coaches, if they are hurt or injured, as showcased in a scene by James Caan and Omar Epps in the 1993 movie, The Program.

If you are hurt you can still play, manage the pain, and find a way to perform. If you are injured, there is no way you can go on, it’s just not possible, and hopefully, you’ll be back for the next game or even the next season.

One of my best friends is an athletic trainer. I’ve watched Derrick approach his work for years at the collegiate and professional levels. His job entails helping injured players through treatment plans and eventually getting them back ready to play again in the future. However, the moments that he enjoys the most and drives his passion, are those on game day. Once diagnosing that the player is hurt and not injured, he applies the proper medical attention and it becomes all about getting them back into the game as soon as possible. This involves helping the athlete tap into their sense of perseverance and build their confidence that they can go out and perform.

Playing hurt requires perseverance and since this blog is called mixing pods, I wanted to apply it well beyond the football field.

I’ve been inspired by so many examples of perseverance, from those of you battling that crappy thing called cancer, to those taking on the risk to start your own business. Martin Luther King Day is Monday. Talk about a story of perseverance. The entire civil rights movement at its peak, as well as today, requires strength and perseverance. It is being dedicated to the cause, continuing through resistance, pain, and pushing through obstacles.

With 2 and 4-year-old daughters, my days are filled with kissing boo-boos and applying Hello Kitty band-aids. The real challenge that keeps me up at night is determining if I am using the right words and actions to build up skills of perseverance and character. The last thing I want to do is confuse being hurt with being injured, or be the cause of long-term injury.

We all personally determine if we are hurt or injured on a daily basis.

So when life thumps you sometimes, you have to ask yourself if you are hurt or injured?

• Are you confusing hurt feelings, with injured relationships?
• Do you have the right mindset for the challenge that you are facing?
• Do you need help diagnosing the issue?
• Are you applying the right ‘treatment’ plan?
• Who can help you?
• What limitations are you going to accept?
• How are you going to persevere?

There are times when we have to help each other get back on the playing field of life. Derrick and I can tell you that.

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