Put Yourself In The Arena

The Olympics are in full swing, with millions glued to their screens gazing upon the deluge of athletic greatness that captivates us every four years. Part of the draw is, indeed, its very infrequency, enabling it to retain the sense of eliteness and rarity that make the Olympics so wildly compelling.

While the spectator experience for sport at this level tends to be a quadrennial one, it's useful to remember that the Olympics represents one of what might be several distinct competitive events in which an athlete participates in any given year. In other words, while the Olympics is the competition, for the career athlete, it is not and cannot be the only competition.

Olympic athletes aren't merely good at their sport, they are, wholly and specifically, good at competing in their sport. It could be said that their real strength is in putting themselves in the arena—the greatest ones, by objective standards, often doing this frequently.

Characteristically ruthless in his epithets to us, philosopher Seneca spends much of Letter LIII in Letters From A Stoic emphasizing the primary role that philosophy must play in the life of anyone who seeks to be a wise person. "There's no excuse for your pursuing philosophy merely in moments when occasion allows," he admonishes, iterating that anything dubbed as primary in one's life should be treated as such.

When it's not, it shows. For the career athlete, it shows in their ability to adapt and rise to competition. In our own lives and pursuits, it shows in our ability to demonstrate consistency or resilience in any sphere.

While we don't choose the conditions, we do choose how and whether we show up to them, with the aim being to be made better by doing so.

Put yourself in the places that create the opportunities for your improvement. Put yourself in the arena.

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