If you talk to people involved in sport in T&T today, you will get a sense that they are mostly frustrated and fed up. There is the belief that not much is happening. Many aren't seeing the progress they expected or desired. Troubles are abundant.
Turning troubles into opportunities. How do we cope when things don't go our way? When nothing you do seems to be turning out how you expected. In the world of sport setbacks, losses, adversity and mistakes and the consequences of mistakes are the day to day experience and reality.
There is the daily question–tough luck or wrong choice?
The temptation to retreat and quit is a dilemma that is faced by everyone involved in sport. How do you pick yourself up and get back into the cauldron?
There is the age old exhortation when troubles hit, dig deep and keep fighting. It's the individual or team that wants it more who win at the end of the day.
It's the difficult times that reveal true mettle and character. Difficult times are when class, dignity and being a positive influence matters most.
The temptation to be destructive and negative is real.
The freedom to choose and the free will to make decisions presents a major trap.
We are allowed to do anything we want. But not everything is beneficial.
In the sporting environment it's not always the star or the person with the most talent and potential who can be depended on in the difficult moments.
It's the individual with character who makes the positive difference, the person who makes everyone around them better is the best teammate–the person who puts the best interest of the team or group first.
It's a choice. We are around people every day whom we can either serve by helping to make them better or ignore and focus on our own needs.
It's helpful to always ask yourself what kind of teammate am I.
Is my priority to bring out the best in my teammates?
Everyone gets discouraged at some point especially when faced with failure, mistakes or frustrating periods when nothing seems to be going right.
But the true mettle of a man or woman, a group, team or organisation is how the difficult and trying periods or moments are overcome.
It's easy to forget that success in anything isn't accomplished in a day.
It takes time, patience, discipline, determination and dedication.
Notwithstanding the best intention of so many. The cold harsh reality is that failure comes before success. You will hardly find anyone who has attained success anywhere in the world who will not have a story of hardship, challenges and adversity.
To expect that sport here in T&T will have it any different is unrealistic and a pure fantasy.
There is the old saying nothing worthwhile was ever achieved without struggle.
Moving sport in T&T forward has always demanded an indomitable will.
Maybe if we paid more attention to the stories and lessons of our sporting heroes and achievers past, those who seek to make a contribution now and in the future, will be inspired and encouraged. Then again, it's easy to be discouraged as the more things change the more they remain the same.
It's important not to be discouraged. Sport is worth all the trouble and frustrations.
There is always a silver lining. No surrender. Keep fighting sport matters.
Brian Lewis is the President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the TTOC.