Finding the positive even in the most challenging situations!

I received a lot of support and encouragement for William Sharman after his disappointment at the European Championships two weeks ago.

After arriving in Barcelona from the British team training camp in Portugal, William said he was “in the shape of my life.” Unfortunately after a winning the UK National Championships in July there was bitter disappointment in Spain when William was disqualified for a false start in his semi-final, leaving UK’s No2 Andy Turner to win the Gold Medal. Read the full story at http://www.terryforsey.com/News_August_2010__William_suffers_bitter_disappointment-p-291.html.

Most of us can only imagine the immense sense of frustration and disappointment William must have been feeling. Can you imaging how you would react? How long would we allow this to linger in our thoughts?

In William’s case he did something most surprising. He told me “I am taking myself off to Luzern to prove to myself that this is a one off!”. Without telling his coach, his manager or his sponsors William competed in the Diamond League meeting the week after Barcelona running a seasons best in strong American dominated field.

Returning to Crystal Palace this weekend he improved on his Luzern time with another Season’s best in a race easily won by the World No1 David Oliver and fellow Americans. William came a creditable 4th in that race and, in the process, beat Andy Turner into 8th place!

William’s post race interview focused on the future “I said I was in great shape and have now shown I am improving all the time. I am getting better each race and am looking forward to Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.”

William continues to teach us all lessons about taking full responsibility for our actions combining that with focus, hard work and ultimately looking for the positive in every situation no matter how big the sense of frustration.