America's Game

I had the unfortunate luck of talking to a teenager not too long ago. Scary creatures, they are. She just graduated and we were talking about her plans for college. "I'm going to ($27,000 a year) University!" I was happy for her, and asked what she was majoring in. "French with a minor in Music." I just stared at her silently. It was a silence so loud that you could hear me blinking. I was thinking about the economy and how much student loan debt she was going to have."What?" she asked. I drew a deep breath, which allowed me to go into a deep meditative state as I carefully decided what to say next. It was in this state that I came up with the following analogy.

Life is like football. You are, and forever will be, the offense. Life will always be the defense. Your dreams are the ball. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against you. You will achieve success when you make it to your goal. That's how you win. Life's goal isn't just to stop you. That makes for a boring game. Life's goal is to strip you of the ball. Life's goal is to take your dreams away. This can happen in two ways: Fumble or Interception.

Fumble
When you lose your confidence, you lose your strength to hold on to the ball. No matter how bad things are going. No matter how many of the previous attempts have failed, the worst thing you can do is to let go of your dreams.

Interception
Unfortunately, you are every player on your team. Running back, quarterback, wide receiver. They're all you. You play every single position simultaneously, so you'll always be the one holding the ball. There will be times when life will come rushing at you, and you'll be under immense pressure to make a move. Don't make the common mistake of handing someone else your dream. I don't care if it's family, friend or significant other. They are not on your team.

It was after that long analogy that I told her that in this particular situation, I don't know if I'm just a coach on the sidelines or Life coming in one of it's many forms to strip the ball. The only advice I could provide is to pick up a dual major or a minor to fall back on.

Think of it as shoulder pads and a helmet just in case Life knocks you on your ass. It'll be easier to get back up and keep going if you have on those.

She asked, "So what happens if I score?"
You keep playing til your clock runs out.