The High School Student News Site of The American School in London

The Standard

The High School Student News Site of The American School in London

The Standard

Check out our latest issue
Subscribe
Loading
Instagram

Odell Beckham Jr.’s tweet sends positive message

Odell Beckham Jr., a wide receiver for the New York Giants known for his extraordinary one-handed catches and off-field antics, was in the midst negotiating for a new contract this summer when my dad sent me a message containing a link about him. I assumed he was sending me news in regards to his contract negotiations. However, what it actually was surprised me: a tweet from Beckham Jr.

Beckham Jr. was recovering from a season-ending ankle injury that he suffered in October 2017, and pre-season training camp was about to start at the time. For me, many athletes’ tweets seem too personal, however, Beckham Jr.’s was intriguing. Whether intentional or not, Beckham Jr. has provided me with a completely new outlook on how to approach school, life and everyday struggles.

The first half of the tweet, “trust the processs” (with an extra “s,” not sure whether it was for extra emphasis or just a typo), comes from the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team. In 2014, the 76ers purposely traded away all of their good players in order to get higher draft choices and select a younger, newer team.

The reasoning behind this plan was to be bad for a period of time but as the draft picks accumulated they would eventually become good. This “trust the process” mentality is something that many athletes have adopted, including Beckham Jr. Both the 76ers and Beckham Jr. accepted the fact that there was going to be a period of struggle, but in time, there would be success. The 76ers “trusted the process,” and, finally, after four years of being one of the worst teams in the NBA, they were the third seed in the Eastern Conference this year.

The “trust the process” outlook at first seems a concept solely meant for athletes; however, there is much more to be learned from it. “Trusting the process” can be applied into our everyday lives and provide reassurance for our goals and individual activities, whether we’re professional athletes or regular students. One example of trusting the process could be with the 2018-2019 school year. Whether it’s been an easy or hard start, the school year will be a bumpy road. If we “trust the process” with this school year, knowing there will be bad times, accepting them, and continuing to work hard, things will end up OK when June comes along.

The thing that truly inspired me after reading this tweet was the fact that Beckham went that step further by saying, “Enjoy the struggle more than the success.” Although “trusting the process,” isn’t a new idea in the sporting world, the concept of enjoying the struggle more than the success is a far less common term. After reading that quote it took me some time before I was able to understand how this was actually possible. I thought to myself, isn’t the whole point of hardship the success?

For me, the first step in enjoying the struggle is accepting it. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t struggle a lot of the time. Struggling is an unfortunate fact of life. No matter who we are or what situation we are in, we all will struggle.

After accepting that everyone struggles from time to time, I found the difficulty set in when I tried to enjoy the challenge. That was, until I put it into practice. I was in my yard, playing soccer, when I noticed that I was feeling particularly stressed about school work and balancing my time. Although I technically wasn’t ‘mid-struggle’ I was still thinking through my current struggle. That’s when I thought to myself: I should be enjoying this, and I can enjoy it if I adjust my mindset. All of a sudden, something clicked. Telling myself that I am enjoying the struggle made it feel like I owned the struggle, I was the king of it. So, although we may not truly be “enjoying the struggle,” we can still triumph through accepting it and owning it. Take ownership of your struggle and maybe you too can enjoy it.

Beckham finished the tweet with, “WE WORKIN.” To me, that is his declaration. Beckham is saying “bring it on,” it being anything. So, my challenge going into this school year is to put my foot down and say “bring it on” because we can deal with hardship, so much so that maybe we can enjoy it.

Leave a Comment
About the Contributor
Jonathan Novak, Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Online Emeritus
Jonathan Novak (’20) is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Online Emeritus of The Standard. He joined The Standard as a staff writer as a freshman and previously was the Sports Editor. He likes writing and exploring issues in the school and the professional sports world. Novak is involved in the varsity soccer and track teams. His favorite subjects are math and science. Novak has lived in London for his entire life and been at ASL since K-1.

Comments (0)

All The Standard Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *