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| Regret's
the Worst Pain of All |
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Make the most of what you can
become while you can.
The most painful moment you may ever suffer won’t come from a
bone-jarring check in the corner, nor will it occur after a
mid-ice collision or while blocking a shot on the power play.
The most painful moment most people endure is the pain of
regret.
There are a number of different situations when regret is
obvious over time. There are always one or two hockey players
that had wonderful ability as youths and then faded away. T.C.
Harris and Pat Aufiero were dueling rivals as kids. T.C. may
have been the most talented young player I have ever seen or
worked with. Pat became a standout at B.U. and is now playing
AHL hockey. T.C. is a famous memory that people marveled at but
don’t remember.
I talk to many athletes each year who are not sure if they will
try to play in college. Years later they regret not taking the
chance to push themselves and try. Andrew Senesi was a standout
high school player at Arlington High. After a year at Assumption
College, he decided to transfer to a more competitive
conference. He improved his grades and abilities and has a
national championship ring from Norwich to go with his diploma.
The regret many people encounter comes from what someone else
has lost, not from personal experience. Bob Hanson is an owner
at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. His son Bob played at
B.U. and then played Dave Silk in the movie “Miracle.” His other
son, Matt, was a dedicated and rugged goalie who was playing at
the University of Vermont when an awkward collision at the net
in practice left him with a broken neck and inches from
paralysis. Matt had worked hard everyday to become the player he
was. He is a competitor who has rehabbed to become healthy again
as hard as he trained to be a great hockey player. He may regret
that he will never play again, but he does not regret how he
approached hockey everyday. He has inspired many others to enjoy
the sport to the fullest extent each day, as you never know what
tomorrow may bring.
Jackie Wishoski is a favorite person and athlete of mine because
of what she has accomplished and how far she has come. As a
scrawny high school soccer player, people told her she was to
skinny, not skilled and not smart enough to play in college. She
didn’t have time to listen. She was too busy studying,
practicing and getting stronger. She changed schools to prep for
college, worked out year round to become more physical and spent
countless hours on the practice field.
At the University of New Hampshire, the Malden, Mass. native set
the season and single-game goal scoring records as a sophomore.
Great opportunities were on the horizon as her success pushed
her to work even harder. In September when she was thrown from
her car while driving at school, she was enjoying the best time
of her life as a college student and potential All-American. As
she continues to recuperate from her injuries, all her parents
and friends and thousands of supporters hope for is recovery. I
don’t care if she ever touches a soccer ball again, as she has
squeezed more talent and pleasure out of herself in a short time
than most do in a lifetime. She won’t have any time for regret
when she recovers as she will be to busy attacking her next
challenge.
There are many distractions for high school hockey players. This
is the time where the game becomes competitive and serious on a
year round basis. This is also when you discover if your love
for the game will continue into your collegiate years. Far too
often, we regret not spending the time necessary to become the
best we can. We are too busy to train, to practice and to learn
and the game is no longer fun. As adults, we long to recapture
those moments as priceless and poorly spent. We may spend years
regretting missed hours of playing, working out and practicing.
There is a saying that indicates the pain of hard work is easier
to handle than the pain of regret. Don’t look back at what you
could have done, make the most of what you can do. Learn from
others who squandered the chance to improve, and those who have
it unjustly taken away.
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