Playing to win

Personal Photo: Taken by Shannon Deppen this week; We never know what is around the bend, but putting our all into every chapter of our lives helps demonstrate our trust in God's almighty plan for us :)

I could really feel Autumn this week in Ohio; the leaves are beginning to burst into color, the feel in the air has changed and the nights keep getting cooler and cooler. With the approaching start date of my new job, I have been taking my time to appreciate the shift in the weather. Speaking of my new job, I talked at length with Mom about it earlier this week and I am so surprised I was offered the position; we really considered my work experience and how it led me here.

After working as a front desk receptionist for the YMCA for a couple months before getting laid off from COVID, I worked for a bridal shop until Clay and I got married. This job taught me so much about anything and everything, and I really feel as though it best prepared me for work-life. I left for a few reasons, but one of them was that I was looking for a bit more structure than was offered. I then switched from selling wedding dresses to hosting weddings at a reception venue. After taking the hosting job, I felt as though it really was not for me, as I had very little time with Clay, and I did not feel as though I was challenging my intellectual capability. It really was hard for me to navigate that particular job; I worked late and odd hours, I expected something different out of the position than it ended up being, and I struggled with burnout in the wedding industry. When I began searching for a new job, I was applying to anything and everything, until I was provided a remote opportunity for a school. I worked there for almost a year until I found that it was no longer a good fit for me and it was time to move on; then the search began again. The job that I am starting soon seemed to almost fall in my lap, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I am also grateful for all the jobs that didn't work out in the long run, for the people who gave me a chance before I had any experience, and the things that I learned throughout the journey of each workplace.

My point in sharing all of my work history with you is to illustrate how challenging it has been for me to find a position that I enjoyed and also fit my needs. I have only worked one job for more than a year and it was just barely; I have switched positions fairly quickly and struggled with finding a place for me in the working world. When Mom and I were talking about this journey, she mentioned how important it was for me to have worked hard in the jobs I knew I would not stay at, regardless of how challenging it was to stay motivated, because I am now qualified for the job I accepted. She told me that this was why I worked so hard in school, why I did my best in college, why I applied myself in jobs I did not enjoy. We brought up the concept of playing to win, instead of playing to not lose and how important it is in the long run to give our all, because it sets us up for what God has in store for us.

It got us both thinking about how everything in life is like this; when we play to win--no matter what it is or how hard it is--we are demonstrating how we trust in God to carry us through our current situation and how He is using that as a stepping stone to get us where we need to be. Think about it; When we study hard for an exam, we are setting ourselves up to learn as much as we can. When we put our house up for sale, we are trusting that we can sell it and find a better home for our needs. When we give freely of ourselves, we are building lasting impacts and relationships with others. When we quit our old job for a new one, we are hoping for the next chance to be better than our last. We don't always know if we studied the right material, if our next house will be our final one, if our giving will really bear fruit in other people, if our new job will be our last. However, we do it anyway because we are trusting that God is taking us through another well-thought-out chapter in our lives, leading us to learn more and guiding us to where we need to go. Romans 8:28 tells us that "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." No step is a mistake in God's plan, even if it might feel as though we are wasting time or struggling to find our place. Every piece in life builds on itself, meaning that if we remove one of the earlier steps, maybe one of the more difficult times, we cannot be where we are today; we need the moments in our lives where we struggled and still gave our all, where we felt like we were failing and tried our best anyway, when we felt lost and off-track but showed up with 100% everyday regardless. It all builds on itself, adding up to make a difference down the road and around the bend, where we might not be able to see yet.

Playing to not lose is not the same as playing to win. Playing to not lose means that we show up to work, but we cut corners; we are nice to someone because we want them to like us, not because we are displaying kindness rooted in our hearts; we don't give our all for one reason or another and we find that we did not get much out of our experience. Playing to win means we do our best and keep ourselves set to a high standard, even when we are in a job we don't like, failing a school subject, losing friends, feeling lost in life, and more. Our best is all we can do. My point is to really emphasize how we can show up every day trusting in God amidst our struggles (regardless of what they are) and putting our best effort in because we trust in His plan. Life is difficult, chapters in our journeys will challenge us, and we can find ourselves not seeing a reason why we should put our all in, especially when we are struggling so much. However, James 1:2-4 reminds us to" Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Mom was saying how difficult it is to tell a twelve-year-old how valuable it is to work hard in school, but when she brought up how that work ethic led me to the job offer I accepted, it really came full circle. It emphasizes what James is saying. Trials come in many different forms, not just in school or in the workplace, and understanding how we can take the value of putting our all into everything we do and use it as a way of life and as an opportunity to trust in God working in us is really the concept behind playing to win.

A lot of times, when we think about the phrase 'Playing to win,' we instantly think of sports. I am working here to apply it to every aspect of our lives, but I do have a story that I think illustrates a big part of what I am saying. When I was in high school and junior high, I was a runner, participating in both cross country and track. Running is one of those sports that can be very mentally challenging in addition to physically challenging, and I am grateful that my two older brothers, Josh and Jason, helped teach me how to run and embrace the feeling of freedom that it brought me. Distance running was my strength, meaning that sprints were one of my least favorite workouts. When I was first learning to run, Jason was still in high school, so my early running days were often spent with Josh when he came home from college for the summers or weekends. Sprints were used to work on turnover, and at the end of our run, we would sprint for a short amount of time to practice the final stretch in the 5K races during the season. It can be easy during this sprint to lose form, let your arms sway, shoulders to raise, and head to bob. When Josh was working on this with me, he told me that everything should be going forward. Of course, we were tired, but in order to use the rest of our energy the most effectively, we should be going forward, not looking behind us, not swaying side to side, not raising our shoulders. Our arms, legs, and body should be going forward.

I found this story particularly relevant within the message of trusting in God's plan through gratitude and motivation. We are always going forward, even if we feel like we have fallen off the path, we are lost and unhappy, and we don't know where we should go next. We can use these chances to find God and depend upon His almighty plan for us, knowing that He is using each and every experience, both the good and the bad, to bring us to where we should be. The challenging chapters, when we consider how we might be taking a step backwards, can reinforce the motivation to show up and play to win, applying our trust in God's plan for us within our careers, our personal lives, our relationships with others, and every other corner of our multifaceted and complex lives. James 1:12 states that "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." He has it all orchestrated, even the difficult and challenging moments in life, and in order to really trust in that truth, we have the ability to demonstrate gratitude through giving every chapter of our lives our all and focusing on going forward. When we go through hardships, we can have peace knowing that He is working in us and that "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)." He is not going to fail us; The jobs that I struggled in set me up and qualified me for where I am today. The experiences I had with other people and past relationships taught me the values that I am looking for in others today. The ways that I have personally struggled have highlighted the areas that the Holy Spirit has strengthened in me.

When we give our all, we are appreciating the way that God puts His all into us as well. He never short-changes us, in any chapter of our journey. Jeremiah 29:11 says "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" The best chapter of our lives could be the next one and we just never know when those challenging experiences and hardships might prove to be exactly what we need down the road and around the bend. They teach us, they qualify us, they help us get to the next step, and when we abandon the earthly approach of playing to not lose, we find that God plays to win, we can play to win here on earth with Him on our team, and we are winners when we trust in His plans for us.