After the Chatfield game, there was talk about being tired of “almost” winning, of “almost” getting to the point where we felt we were winners but not quite there. I have to admit, I spent most of Friday night and Saturday feeling disappointed. Not in the way we played, but in the result of the game. I kept replaying how it could have - and should have - been different; replaying the “almosts.” I’d like to share with you what got me past my disappointment.

Do you ever wonder why we seem to never tire of the success stories of others? Why we are drawn to the tales of the small-town nobody who makes it big or the Cinderella sports teams who seem to come out of nowhere to upset the perennial powerhouse favorite? Why we so often pull for the under-dog? I believe it is because we want to believe that the courage that these unlikely success stories demonstrate, the courage to get past “almost,” is possible in ourselves. At our very cores, we want to be bold enough to persevere and overcome adversity. Ultimately, we want to look failure in the face and know that it does not diminish us. We want to know that we are stronger. For everyone fails – everyone. But it is the truly successful that have the courage to believe in themselves and succeed in the face of and in the midst of failures along the way.

Soccer is, above all, a mental game. Doubtless, it takes athleticism, physical fitness, endurance and skill. But we have already demonstrated that we have all of those things. What it also takes is mental and emotional discipline. If a team lacks this discipline, they are at risk of believing they are inferior. Instead of knowing that failure is part of the path to success, the team begins to believe that they are somehow “lesser than.” The Dali Lama says,

“If when we get into a difficult situation our will or our courage lessens and we fall into the laziness of feeling inferior, thinking that we could not possibly accomplish such a difficult task, this diminishment of will cannot protect us… It is important to generate courage corresponding to the size of our difficulties.”

We must not fall into the laziness of believing we are inferior. If we lack the discipline to be courageous, we will concede not that the physical game was too hard (because we’ve already proven that we are physically capable of trading blows with the best teams), but that the mental challenge was too hard. We are an exceptional soccer team. We have the ability to succeed. The question is, will we be courageous enough?

If we want to be on the path to success, we must move into this week focusing on the game in front of us, rather than the game behind us. We must be courageous enough to believe in ourselves and believe in each other. We must define ourselves by our perseverance and strength to overcome disappointment. I challenge you to be courageous enough to come out on Monday with at least the same amount of focus and determination that you had on Friday. I challenge you to be bold enough to persevere – to be stronger than any adversity, any “almost.”