Exploring Our Limits- Dr.Terry Orlick

Until 1995, our gym was full of banners for state appearances. They were all boys banners. In 1995, girls basketball put their first banner up. It was a "Sweet 16" banner. The next year, we struggled early. We lost three in a row in one stretch. But the team voiced they wanted to put another banner up. 

We did it! We won the Sectional championship, which meant we could put a banner up. The next day before practice, some players and I were talking. I said, "Isn't it great, we are going to put up a banner." Jennifer Bulkeley interrupted the conversation with a simple statement, "We haven't decided what this one is going to say yet." Her message was simple and powerful- we can do more!

It is a message all of us need to be reminded of. Individually it can be the player who sets a goal of being a starter, instead of a goal of being All-Conference or All-State. It can be that freshmen or sophomore who thinks I can't start or be a regular on the varsity next year, but wait until I am a senior. We don't challenge ourselves. We don't recognize until it is too late that we are capable of more than we realize.

Years ago I got a book entitled "The Pursuit of Excellence" by Dr. Terry Orlick. One of his messages was that sometimes in our pursuit of excellence, the biggest obstacle we have to overcome is ourself. Without realizing it, we may not challenge ourselves as much as we should. The following is an excerpt from Dr. Terry Orlick's book:

My personal experiences as a competitive athlete have been rich ones. There have been some memorable highs which remain with me. Some involved achieving personal goals, others involved the sheer joy of being absorbed in the experience. One of my achievement highs was when I first did a quadruple twisting back sommersault on the trampoline. Some might say-- so what? Who cares if you can spin your body around in the air four times before coming down? What difference does it make?

    

     It may not make any difference to anyone else, but it made a difference to me. It was important to me, and that was enough. It was kind of neat doing something that very few people have ever accomplished. Although I never started out with this as one of my goals, over a period of about eight years, it began to happen bit by bit...half twist...full...double...triple...three and a half...three and three quarters...quadruple! I remember an exciting feeling rushing through my body...a satisfaction in having explored my potential in one small seemingly meaningless, but personally meaningful, area of existence. I had stretched my personal limits, or at least thought I had at the time.

    

     The desire to do your personal best, to excel, to attain the highest standards of performance, to be supreme in one’s chosen field is a worthy human ambition which has led and can continue to lead to increased standards and personal growth. If no one was concerned with the quality of their contribution, their work, their product or service, our society would take a turn for the worse. Yet high levels of achievement and excellence in any area do not come easily. The trail is hard and steep. There are numerous obstacles to overcome and barriers to push forth. Becoming a highly skilled person in any field, athletics, art, surgery, science, writing, teaching, or parenting, demands commitment and sacrifice.

    

     The greatest barriers we confront in our pursuit of excellence are psychological barriers which we impose upon ourselves, sometimes unknowingly. My failure to even attempt a quintuple is a good example. Somehow I had come to believe it was “impossible”. Perhaps it was like the four minute mile. At one time this too was viewed as an impossible barrier...until it was broken by one man...and then almost immediately by a host of others. It wasn’t the physiological make-up of runners that changed; it was their psychological knowledge of what was possible. As man’s beliefs about limits change, the limits themselves change.

    

     While travelling through Southeast Asia I had the opportunity to see barefoot men walking across hot beds of coal. Incredible heat was generated by those glowing embers and yet they emerged unblistered and unscarred. Is such an “unbelieveable” feat within the capacity of “normal” human beings? How many of us will ever call upon this capacity? How many of us even believe that it is possible? Therein lie our limits. These men are made of the same flesh and blood as you and I. It is their belief that is different. Therein lies their strength.