I am no athlete. But when my son enjoyed a brief career in water polo, his coach went to great lengths to make things hard for him. They had to tread water with a filled gallon jug in each hand. Swim laps endlessly. And other equally mean and pointless routines. 

 

I say pointless, because no one needed to get from one side of the pool to the other twenty times in an hour. In fact they ended up precisely where they started. The milk jugs were not to quench anyone's thirst. Once I watched as  they got dumped after practice. 

 

But there was a point, just a less obvious one. The coach knew about strong muscles, endurance, and tenacity. He also understood that the only way to achieve those goals, and the ensuing goals in a real game, was to run the players through drills. Speedos and looking at pictures of Michael Phelps gets you nowhere. 

 

Speaking of goals, they too are a decoy. The real deal is not measured in numbers and lit scoreboards. Which is confusing, since that is the only thing your friends ask about the next day.

 

What if our Coach, the one who wants us to grow spiritually fit, is using the random circumstances of our lives to further that goal? Which has absolutely nothing to do with the balls that plunge into the net. What if it is irrelevant whether we have loads of money and prestige? Or none? Find a partner or don't? Have optimum health or a chronic disease? Any of those conditions can be and are an arena for us to learn resilience and tenacity. 

 

If not these people, and jobs, and obstacles, then what? 

 

Maybe the next time I think my frustrations are pointless, and get me no where,  I will remember my son in the pool with those biceps. And how much fun it was to watch him.