It’s Super Bowl week, so I thought it might be fun to draw analogies between the games of football and life. It all starts at the beginning with the kickoff, or birth, as the entire game is in front of you.
Throughout life, as at the start of the game, be as prepared as can be. Educate yourself, constantly. Hopefully you’ll have coaches (football) or parent/mentors/friends (life) to teach you, motivate you, push you, exhort you and hug you… which makes it easier to succeed, however you define success, by providing you with life/game options. The more you learn about the world, the more options you’ll have, and the more prepared you’ll be for whatever’s out there.
Running game not working; you have to pass. Zone defense not slowing down the opposition; time to play man-to-man. In life you do what works, hopefully within the rules. Start by getting educated. One thing they say is guaranteed in football is that there’s a 100% chance of injury. Creepy, but true. But such is life- no one goes undefeated or uninjured- as we learn through resiliency, tenacity, willpower, and awareness as we overcome life’s owies; we get back in (or stay in) the game.
Life and football are played in series. A series of events, a drive to attain a goal… these football/life metaphors and similes never end should you choose to wax poetic. You gain a few yards, you lose a few yards. A first down = success! You complete an exhilarating bomb; you fumble. The key to football (life) is how you respond. You’re surrounded with teammates (family, co-workers) over whom you often have no control; you deal with obstacles, pleasures, small wins, and frustrations that make up football (life). You adapt or whither… every day, every play.
Play outside the rules and you pay a price. And when penalized (in life/football), often others suffer, too. Find what works best for you, go for it, but morph and adjust as the game (life) evolves. Don‘t make assumptions, steel yourself for life’s hard hits. If you get the wind knocked out of you, regroup, and get back in the game (concussions are different, of course).
However you define winning and losing in life, remember that unlike the finality of a completed football game, as long as the sun rises, you always have tomorrow. So get in there and play hard!
Think about it…