A Joyous Perspective on a Game: What Football can teach you.

 

There's something about being a fan of a game, even when there's nothing significant on the line...

I came to learn this early in life, growing up in a small farm town and hearing stories about my Uncles playing for the local High School teams. They played multiple sports, but the memories that stuck with me most were the Friday nights under the lights at Mineral King Bowl, watching the teams roll onto the field while the fans roared. I learned my Uncle's jersey numbers early and always looked for them to be doing something. I quickly caught on that a great deal of struggle was going on for a few yards to be earned at a time. Inch by inch toward an elusive line. I became intrigued and connected to the process, and as I grew, I soon found out about the Professionals who played the game on Sundays. Now, there was some real excitement. Bone-crushing injuries followed by screaming and jumping up and down in the living room. 

Watching the process was as fascinating and essential to me as how many points were scored...

That slow gain of territory was the drama of watching highly motivated people fight for the right to go where they wanted to go - their opponent's end zone. And when I knew these people personally, it took on an even deeper meaning. I watched their own personal victory, followed by the dance of joy with their team. 

Football is much more than just another game. There's much that can be learned from the process. As we begin another season of the game at many levels in our country, here are a few insights I've gathered from my time as a fan that I want to share with you. 

Many things in life require a lengthy process without immediate payoff...

Writing, art, raising children, fitness, and business, to name a few, are places where it matters greatly what you do on the front end long before you reach the final payoff or finished product. It's crucial to keep trying, even if your progress is glacially slow. There's happiness in meaningful struggles, even when the going gets rough.

Football's slow, brutal work is meaningful because it is about attaining challenging goals by giving it your all. The game abounds in persistence, strategy, tactics, and resilience. Football is all about bouncing back. Football players can also show you how to look confident when you are not, and they never give up prematurely, regardless of the writing on the wall. The ritual of positioning for the last down with seconds on the clock demonstrates how to keep your intent, even in the face of defeat. This resolve keeps your purpose clear and your morale up, whether inside or outside a stadium.

Football shows you how to keep going when you're getting roughed up by other people who want their goals as much as you do...

It tells you that your desires are just as important as anyone else's and, therefore, worth fighting for. Like all sports, football affirms that you are entitled to go after what you want. More importantly, football reminds you not to become a victim when you start losing or if other people are mean to you.

Football shows you that winning is tricky because many other people are also trying to win...

You must be willing to fight for your yardage because other people will only sometimes step in to help you. And whenever you feel like you're failing, football is clear about what to do next: set up your next play and keep pursuing your goal.

Football teaches you to develop different aspects of yourself...

Sometimes in life, you are like the star quarterback throwing an eighty-yard pass in the game's last minutes or the running back in full stride catching a ball looking backward. But you must also train parts of yourself to be like burly linebackers, halting opponents' momentum or adverse circumstances. 

As a player in the game of life, you may experience shame when you drop, fumble, or miss a pass, but the game will go on regardless. 

Nobody does it perfectly all the time. 

Remember that you're killing it in sports when you are doing well most of the time.

So, if you find yourself stuck at or enjoying a football game this weekend, look for some of these lessons on how to conduct yourself when it feels like life is blocking your progress. Watch and appreciate the tedious but necessary positioning, the strategies that don't pay off, and the determination to keep pushing forward. More than that, let the best players show you how to manage yourself when life tackles you, even if a flag is thrown.

What's the biggest lesson?

When you only get four chances to go ten yards, make them count.