Problems For the Best

Famous music artist and composer Duke Ellington once stated, “A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” This is a rather popular quote whether it is worded like this or a little different, everyone has heard this at least once in their lifetime. Problems range from all kinds of things. Some would consider receiving a C on their school assignment a problem. Many others have bigger problems such as losing a loved one. As an athlete, I go through hundreds of little problems every year. I go through bigger problems during my personal time and many others do too. As you read further I will get into how the quote above affects my life along with someone else’s life.

I am a member of the Academic Decathlon team at my high school and part of the requirements is creating a written speech you must present to judges. The topic I have chosen is “How does loss both positively and negatively affect my life?” During the speech, I explain the process of losing my grandfather, who I was very close with, along with my football coach I consider a second father. This fits the quote I am discussing very well. A problem I was experiencing was unhappiness and trying to embrace the new lifestyle without the two people I was closest with. This situation ultimately brought the best out of me in many different environments. My grandfather had a great impact on my life at the racetrack and inside of the garage. With the loss of him, I have understood and put in way more effort inside of these environments to make sure I excel every time I get the opportunity to do so. The loss of my football coach affected my life greatly as he changed the way I saw the game I love and work for every single day. I plan to play football at the college level, so the impact of this problem could have been the make or break point of my career. I understood what Coach wanted from me and it naturally became part of my gameplay. I started to think and process gameplay at a coach’s level and it has greatly increased my talent level. This is why problems in my life ended up bringing out the best in me on a day-to-day basis.

A very popular example of this on a bigger scale which most people know about is Michael Jordan. Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team which is crazy to think about. This was a problem that obviously affected him at the time, but the way he dealt with the problem is what matters. Jordan did not let this stop him from working hard. This caused Jordan to work out more than ever before. He became dominant at every spot on the court and changed his game completely. At this point, Jordan is at the top of every debate regarding best who the best player ever is and some would argue that it isn’t even close. If Jordan didn’t go through this problem he may not have ever found the best version of himself. This is why problems helped Jordan for the best.

Throughout my discussion above, I have explained my personal problems along with someone like Michael Jordan’s problems. We both went through some tough situations but didn’t allow it to tear us down. We both put in the work and became way better versions of ourselves. Although I’m not Michael Jordan, Problems changed both of our lives to bring out the best in both of us.

“Michael Jordan” by StarrGazr is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0