Josiah Scott, Class of 2015 (Bot9 #107)
Josiah Scott, Valor Baseball Class of 2015
Laziness - No Drive
At the beginning of my freshman year, I was so excited to come in and be in high school. That feeling was magnified by a new school, and a new sport. I played football, but this story does not start at a football game or at football practice, it starts in the weight room. I remember my first day at football practice vividly, because that was the day when I experienced major disappointment in myself. I saw all these guys lifting these big heavy weights, and I wanted to be like them. I went to my rack to squat, and 3 guys walked up to me, and made fun of how little I was squatting. That day ruined a big part of the next two and half years of my life. For the rest of that football season, when it was time to lift, where was I? In the locker sitting and waiting for practice to start. It was so hard to put in any work, because I flat wasn’t good enough. This spirit of laziness and being scared carried over to my freshman baseball season, and the laziness also affected me in the classroom. I was too scared to answer any questions from a teacher, because I felt like if I did and got the answer wrong, someone would make fun of me. That spirit sat in my heart for those couple years; it weighed heavily on my heart. I went to off-season for the most part every day, but did I give my 100%? Probably not, in fact, I know I didn’t. I started getting bigger and taller; I started gaining confidence and began to work hard, but only on the field. It took lots and lots of practice before I was finally able to make an error, and was able to forgive myself for that error. Something was still keeping me from the weight room though. I had a ton of confidence after my junior spring season, I felt great, I even got to play two games on Varsity. That was a great experience.Finally, the summer between my Junior and Senior year I played with 5280 Baseball, and there were a few guys on my team from Valor. I was able to build relationships with them, and I felt good about myself, I was able to start lifting, and that furthered my ability to get better at baseball. I have had people pray for me, and I spent time with the Lord, to break off this spirit of performancism. I was so unhappy with myself and I hated myself that I wouldn’t put the work in to improve my game.
My big breakthrough came when I was finally able to change my thinking. I would work hard for God, not to impress others. One verse that helped me defeat the spirit of laziness and doubt inside of me was Colossians 3:23, which states, :Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” When I was able to change my mindset and work hard for God, and for his glory, and not for others, it not only furthered me in athletic ability, but my faith and my relationship with God.
I really want to encourage all underclassmen to work hard, because it will pay off in the long run. Whoever said hard work pays off knew what they were talking about. I also want to pray every day that no one in the Valor baseball program would doubt themselves and their ability. Once that doubt sneaks in it will hurt you in many different ways. Ignore the enemy’s words. You are good enough!