Afghan Athletes – The Real Winners

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Winner Woman With Arms Raised

Welcome to Three-Peat Tuesday!

Building from my recent book UNBEATABLE! Seven Pillars of Personal Excellence, each blog will contain three P’s: Pillar, Principle and Practical, all geared towards nourishing you on your personal and spiritual growth journey.

Pillar: Winners are blessed

“All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings…”-Revelation 21:7a

Principle: Winning as a team

Once again, sport has done it. Amid the chaos, tragedy and hardship that has fallen upon Afghanistan, its citizens and its residents, there was a beautiful silver lining.

Two Paralympic athletes from Afghanistan thought that their dreams were dashed when the sudden withdrawal of the US military led to the dramatic Taliban takeover within a matter of days. Enter the power of the global sporting community.

France, Afghanistan and Japan came together to get Zakia Khudadadi, a taekwondo athlete, and track athlete, Hossain Rasouli, safely out of Afghanistan. They made it to the Paralympic Games! This has come not too long after the Afghan women’s football team was also evacuated. A victory for women and for sport.

From all reports their arrival in Tokyo was met with tears of joy. At the opening ceremony on August 24th, a volunteer had to carry the Afghan flag because of the initial absence of the two Paralympians. It’s become a cliché, but I think we can all agree that whatever their results on the field of play, they are the real winners together with the wonderful people that supported their desire to get to Japan.

The apostle John in his fifth biblical book, cited above, communicated an inspiring promise in the spiritual life. Those who are victorious, the ones who overcome obstacles receive blessings. Have you been stumped spiritually recently by hardship, sinful tendencies, or difficulty? Don’t throw in the towel. Persevere. However, be humble enough to ask for help, first from God and then from others.

Practical: The vision to win

God is in the habit of opening doors. Be attentive to the victory he has in store for you.  

If you were inspired by this blog, please consider sharing it with one other person today. To learn more about these and other related themes that promote the cultivation of an integrated inner self, read UNBEATABLE! which is now available on Amazon in print and as an e-book.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Roxanne Grant

    Really appreciate this lesson and the examples given. I’m working on consistency in everything I do because sometimes I cal fall off the wagon when times get tough and totally forget about perseverance. Thanks

    1. J. Tyrone Marcus

      The spirit of perseverance in so many Paralympians is quite inspiring. Thanks for sharing, Roxanne.

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