A very good friend of mine posted a photo the other day of him and a buddy at the Naval Academy.

He was attending a retirement ceremony for a friend.

I was thinking about his experience that brought him there (He is a Silver Star recipient and has seen some horrific things)

Then I started to reminisce about my time at school.

I recalled a saying that I heard once, “It’s a great place to be from, but not a great place to be at.”

I’m sure some people enjoyed there time there, I however did not.

As an athlete that isn’t super intelligent playing on a team that struggled for half the time I was there I could think of a lot of other scenarios that would be more fun.

But I wouldn’t trade that time for something more “fun”.

I wouldn’t trade those experiences and failures for more success.

What are our experiences worth???

Those tough times have gotten me through a lot of other tough times.

There are tons of people that have been through way more stressful and harder times than I have.

But in my life I haven’t gone through any scenario that was as stressful with the potential to last as long as my time at the Naval Academy.

I don’t know If I would ever want to trade that experience for something less stressful.

Growth happens during times of discomfort.

So why would we avoid it?

The best seasons I ever had were filled with turmoil

The best training programs I’ve ever done were the most difficult.

The best coaches I ever had were the hardest on me and made me the most uncomfortable.

The most valuable experiences I’ve ever had were not fun.

It doesn’t have to be fun to be worth it.

Fern