This Sunday I was inspired by a sermon my pastor (Randy Wheeler, Twin Oaks ) gave–”Playing with Gratitude.” As he opened his sermon, he immediately changed the title to “Enjoy the Game,” which is the title I took for this post. Then he opened with a brief clip of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech to his fans.

How often do we get wrapped into the “score” of the game and forget the enjoyment of playing it. I bet this is what was going through the mind of Lou Gehrig in his farewell speech when he said:

“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

Lou Gehrig was reminding us it was not about the score and the championships. It was about the people and doing something you love. I wrote once before about putting love in the game, based on Lou Holtz’s comment, “It is not about the love of the game, but the love in the game.”

Adversity will happen, it is what you do with the adversity that makes great things. As Randy said, “Focus your attention on what you have left, not on what you’ve lost.”

So, in hopes of you enjoying the game more I am leaving you with a few inspiring words from those who play with gratitude:

“Hard work and togetherness. They go hand in hand. You need the hard work because it’s such a tough atmosphere… to win week in and week out. You need togetherness because you don’t always win, and you gotta hang though together.” -Tony Dungy

“Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.” -Lou Holtz

“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.” -Bethany Hamilton (13 year old surfer and Shark attack survivor)

“I mean, God made me blind and didn’t give me the ability to walk. I mean, big deal. He gave me the talent to play piano and trumpet and all that good stuff.” -Patrick Henry Hughes (Blind, wheelchair bound musician)

Enjoy the game, whatever bounce the ball may take, and let the score take care of itself.