Attitude Determines Altitude

1 Corinthians 10:33 Even as I please men in all things, not seeking mine own profit but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

The old saying is that the most important thing to determine your altitude is your attitude. This simply means that how high you go in this life is directly related to something you have control over----your attitude. As always the case, these bits and pieces of wisdom that pertain to life, could and should be transferred to sports. Or is it that the bits and pieces of wisdom taught through sports will always transfer for essential life lessons?

Well the eternal question remains a mystery, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" The most important component to success in sports is quite possibly your attitude. There are many phrases and quotes that refer to this highly volatile yet totally controllable "state of mind". It is often seen as merely a person's disposition. "You need to play with attitude", " you better check your attitude", "come to practice tomorrow with a better attitude", "you need a positive attitude", and lastly" don't give me that attitude.". We can see that the word "attitude" is often thrown around as if we all know how to gain, maintain, sustain and retain a positive and/or good posture or bearing (attitude). Our scripture is an indication of what will foster a good attitude, while the opposite would invite a negative disposition.

An athlete seeking his or her own profit is a sure recipe for the wrong attitude needed for sports. This most certainly applies to team sports, but can also encourage a participant in an individual sport to always, and I mean always respect the game first and the personal glory will follow. Complaining, judging and foolish pride have all been discussed in earlier articles as detrimental aspects to a player's attitude. They all contain a trace of the most featured part of bad attitudes, which is selfishness. Here is an easy litmus test for individuals playing team sports. What would you choose---a.) doing extremely well in the game but the team took an "L", or playing below your standards but the team won? The sad reality is that many, many players, weather they admit it or not, would choose (a). It's the " I got mine" syndrome. Now don't get me wrong, we all want to win, but if for some reason we don't, well, "I got mine." The twinge of selfishness is also  indicative in shoddy preparation. Inadequate preparation breeds a lack of confidence in your teammates and certainly a lack of self-confidence. The Lord says that selflessness will profit many, and that is the ultimate goal in a team sport. You must be willing to sacrifice personal gains for the advancement of the group.

My hope and prayers are that after identifying the parts of positive/good attitudes vs. negative/bad attitudes that every reader would choose the benefits of the former. God directs these attributes to formulate an attitude that is pleasing to Him. You must have a genuine love for your teammates or the very least a sense of respect. The more you care about them the more you will sacrifice. A sense of service coupled with a healthy dose of humility. Be willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful. Embrace correction and discipline because the objective is for each individual to improve which in turn makes the team better. I can promise you that these  "attitude adjustments" ( I borrowed that term from a co-worker) are very contagious. What will almost always happen is that the psychic thing called team chemistry will go through the roof. I just had slightly scary but very amusing thought. What if Jesus Christ himself would have been a "I got mine" type of player. As he carried his own cross down the road to Calvary, what if he looked down the street to his impending crucifixion and backed out. I mean think about it, He was the Son of God. He had His place secured in the Heaven Hall of Fame. He didn't have to die for the team. He could have wiped out the whole mob, took the personal profit and gone on home to be the right hand man he was born to be. But he didn't, he had the perfect attitude to try to emulate. An attitude of love, humility, serving others and putting His personal profit secondary to the world. This attitude allowed all of mankind the opportunity to be saved, and will guarantee success in sports and then life, or is it life and then sports.

                                                                         Fred Tudor