We Must Be Willing to Pay For It!

Morning Meditation: Taking the High Road

Until 1996, the United States had never won a gold medal in Women’s Gymnastics. So entering those games, there was a tremendous amount of pressure on The US Women’s Gymnastics Team and one of the leaders, Kerri Strug. “We were known around the USA as ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ No pressure, right?” she said in an interview.

As the games were underway the Women’s Gymnastics Team was in second place, right behind the Russians. But what had been a stellar performance on the bars, the floor exercise, and the balance beam turned south quickly when they began their final event on the vault. The teammate prior to Strug’s vault fell on both her attempts. While that was a little unnerving, Strug felt like it surely couldn’t happen to her. She’d worked so hard for so long to be able to master this.

“I’ve gone through so much sweat, pain, and loneliness. I endured a multitude of mishaps and failures and earned more second-place finishes than I care to remember. Yet, I knew I’d put in the time and effort.”

On her first vault, she, too, fell. But she had one final opportunity for redemption in the event. And they believed they needed her to land the vault in order for the USA Women’s Team to achieve the gold.

Despite her ankle being horrifically bruised, she did the vault, landed it, and the USA ultimately won the gold medal.

Strug said, “I had to block out every other distraction. I knew because I had practiced and sacrificed so much, I was capable of doing anything. And I did.”

Arriving at that winning moment carried a great deal of cost. But because she was willing to pay the price, she was able to hobble away a winner.

Resolving conflict in our relationships always costs us something. Emotional energy and mental energy, spiritual focus, and our egos and pride . . . we have to be willing to pay the price if we want to live at peace with one another. We cannot wait on the other person/people involved to do the work. We must take the first steps.

Conflict resolution always costs us something.

But – resolution is worth the price.

What first steps do you need to take today to try to bring resolution to a difficult, messy situation where there is bad blood between the people?

What price are you willing to pay so that peace can be had by all?

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:3-4