“No pain, no gain”, an article I wrote eleven years ago on my blog, and was asked to rewrite for Squash Site to make it sound more relevant to the girls on tour with an insight from my squash days.
If “No pain, no gain” can teach you anything– and if there’s anything, anything I wish my 14-year-old self knew, it is that failures are not eternal.
In fact, nothing is.
When losing becomes a constant in your life, losing to people you once defeated, stepping away from the top ranks, and falling short of what you had long worked hard for, it feels like failure becomes the norm, and the idea starts to consume you and eat you up.
You step into the match with an already losing mindset, and besides the points, games, and ranking you lose, you lose motivation to do what you thought you were built for, you lose praise and recognition from the people around you, you lose hope in your once lifelong dreams, and worst of all, you lose trust, faith, and belief in yourself.
But guess what? This. is. Not. the. End!
In fact, it is nothing but the rugged part of the journey that equips you to become the champion that you longed to become.
And the catch? You would not be that invincible champion without actually getting your a** defeated once or twice… even four, five, and God knows how many more times until you learn your lesson and finally rise above those losses.
Because without the pain of losing, you wouldn’t truly understand what it takes to win; you wouldn’t have the strength of the true champion who knows how to operate under pressure and refine her strategy mid-match.
The champion who knows how to manipulate the pace of the entire match to serve her injury and not let the injury defeat her, the champion who almost gives up to the thought that 2-0 down means the end of the tournament, only she crushes this thought, perseveres, and doesn’t just win the match, but wins the entire tournament.
This pain is not meant to hold you back; it’s meant to mould and shape you into the elite athlete you yearned to become.
All those players you watch and admire on tour didn’t make it to the top by winning alone, they made it through doubting themselves, perhaps through others doubting them, through their bodies giving up on them, through being on the verge of giving up on themselves, but the difference between them and any other player is that they don’t.
They win despite their doubts, doubts when their legs can no longer carry them at the end of the training, doubts when their arms can no longer push through those last few counts at the gym, doubts when their lungs feel like they’re about to explode on the track field; doubt magnifies in their head and fear haunts them, but they win despite it, they rise above it, and in the pain of going through this agonising journey, they gain.
They finally gain the wins; they gain the revived faith in themselves, pride, victory, self-respect, and most of all, they regain themselves.
So, my dear readers, if you made it till the end, I would like to thank you not for instilling faith in this column (though much appreciated), but for having faith in yourself, and seeking ways to verify this faith and lock it in.
I kindly remind you to receive every opportunity of setback with an open heart and open mind, knowing that this is your chance to improve your game, your strength, and your mental stamina.
Those pains are nothing but blessings in disguise for those resolute enough to notice the growth opportunity behind every challenge and push themselves beyond their physical and mental threshold to relish in the euphoria of reaping the well-deserved gains.
