Swallowing the losses and relishing the wins in life

One of those rare and questionable things happened this past Thursday, although I loved every minute of it. Sports talk radio went philosophical on us and left the realm of the hardwood and field and joined "The Grabowskis," also known as the working class. The news of the day was former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre possibly coming out of his short retirement stint and play football this upcoming season. I talked about it a little Wednesday and how I didn’t agree with the way Favre is handling the situation.

During "Mike and Mike in the Morning," a daily show on ESPN Radio, co-hosts Erik Kuselias and Michael Smith discussed how during Favre's retirement press conference in March, the quarterback talked of not enjoying the daily professional football structure anymore. Smith commented on the reasons Favre decided to retire:

“…it's about Mondays. It’s about Sunday nights after games and the way he felt. The way how he looked ahead to the next game and didn’t enjoy wins. It’s about the day-to-day-grind between games that is required of a successful quarterback.”

Smith believes that Favre will not come back and how, “it's the emotion talking.” Kuselias then took the conversation another direction. He started talking about a family philosophy that he has struggled with and that was passed down from his father to his siblings and him:

“The losses in life hit me harder sometimes than I enjoy the wins in life, and that’s a hard way to be and it’s a hard way to go through life. You have to enjoy the wins more than the losses hurt you.”

Well said. Think about that quote and how it relates to you. I first thought about Brett Favre and his reasons for retiring from football and then how that idea relates to my life and everyone around me.

Brett Favre is a human being that I have respected for a long time. He went through drug addiction problems, only to comeback and win a Most Valuable Player award and Super Bowl trophy the year after rehab. He went through his wife having cancer. He went through losing his father, the person who put a football in his hands for the first time. Year after year he has proven that he could continue to play in the National Football League, at the highest level, even if his style was a little unorthodox and his mind was elsewhere at times.

He has accomplished everything out there he can at the quarterback position for the Green Bay Packers. His losses though have taken a toll on him. Even through everything, he questions whether he can handle going through the ups and downs of a football season one more time. This is a professional athlete who is being paid millions upon millions to play a game we learn as a child.

I know every person can recall an accomplishment that he or she was extremely proud of. At the same time however, every person has also had a loss that left a lasting effect on their lives.

I’m really not sure if I have ever thought about my successes and losses/failures in life this way. It's seems like a given but one I too struggle with as I am sure many people do. That is, how quickly I move on to the next thing after a success, not even reflecting on what has happened and the process it took. Or maybe even the changes in life that occur when bad things happen more so than the good things, although that can be a blessing at times both ways.

Sports fans and even non-sports fans take it for granted what professional athletes go through. It’s those moments where we as fans understand those struggles and how those struggles transcend over to the working class, the fan paying major bucks to sit in the cold to watch a game, and our lives specifically, no matter if we are a doctor, lawyer, teacher, or a factory worker. Athletes make more money than we will ever see but at times they are mortal to the bumps in the road of life like all of us.

Next time you accomplish something, whether it be forming a new habit, getting that grade you wanted on a test, or something as simple as cleaning your room (which has been my latest prerogative), take some extra time and spoil yourself. Regardless, take a deep breath before you move on to the next task at hand. If Brett Favre is looking towards the end of the road after all he has accomplished, hopefully you understand what the stops are on that road and how to slow the journey down.

If you are interested in taking a listen to the "Mike and Mike in the Morning" segment talked about above, I downloaded it and cut it for your listening pleasure. It is about eight and a half minutes long. Either click the link below to listen in your browser or right-click and click "Save as" to download it to your computer.

mikeandmikeonfavre7_3.mp3