Defeating Giants

2017 was a rough year for a lot of people. Natural disasters have driven millions of people from their homes. Death has affected many of us, both from disease and terror attacks. Families have been ripped apart. It's a year most would prefer to forget. And yet, one is forced to look forward to the upcoming year. 

I recently finished another inspirational book that I felt fitting to reflect on as we bring this year to a close. Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath is a book challenging us to consider the advantage of being an underdog, to break free from the seeming shackles of suffering and adversity.

"We spend a lot of time thinking about the ways that prestige and resources and belonging to elite institutions make us better off. We don't spend enough time thinking about the ways in which those kinds of material advantages limit our options. Vivek Ranadivé stood on the sidelines as the opposing teams' parents and coaches heaped abuse on him. Most people would have shrunk in the face of that kind of criticism. Not Ranadivé. It was really random. I mean, my father had never played basketball before. Why should he care what the world of basketball thought of him? Ranadivé coached a team of girls who had no talent in a sport he knew nothing about. He was an underdog and a misfit, and that gave him the freedom to try things no one else even dreamt of." (David and Goliath, pg. 36-37)

"And that gave him the freedom to try things no one else even dreamt of." That phrase made me stop and reflect. Freedom is the greatest gift we can receive. Freedom from slavery; freedom from fear; freedom from abuse; freedom from sin. How is it then that we still manage to shackle ourselves back up? Most of you reading this likely live in a “free” society. Freedom of speech. Freedom to choose who and what you want to be. And yet we still conform to societal expectations.

Break free. Try things no one else even dreamt of. I’ve been told more than once that I wasn’t good enough. That I didn’t want it bad enough. Hearing those words is not encouraging. But it made me fight. I was forced to try things no one else thought were possible, because I did want it bad enough. Because I was going to work until I was good enough. Am I there yet? Not even close. But I’ll defy expectations and keep fighting for it every day. 

If you have dreams that you want to accomplish, go get them. Don’t let society tell you that you can’t. Don’t let shackles hold you down. Be the underdog that snaps its leash and goes into 2018 on the attack. What do you have to lose? 

Three thousand years ago David faced the giant Goliath on a battlefield and walked away the unexpected winner. If 2017 tried to break you, as it did to many, rise from the ashes of the fire that ravaged you and shake free from your chains. In doing so, you might just defeat the giants that are standing in front of you.