Monday, January 25, 2010

What I learned from the Vikings

So, how many of us are emotionally exhausted from watching the Vikings vs. Saints game last night? The emotions of watching the home town boys gets to be to much some days. So many chances, so many opportunities, so many what if’s. Did you scream and yell and question why? Why didn’t Favre run out of bounds? Why did Peterson Fumble on the 3 yard line? What if the Vikings would have tried for a field goal? What if the coin toss would have been heads rather than tails? Why’s and what if’s galore last night.

The bus ride was quiet coming in and I had time to write down my thoughts about the whys and what ifs of last night. Here is what I came up with.

First, I think the Vikings did outstanding this year. I was disappointed last night and even a little emotionally spent, but I still slept well. I slept well because I know this is just a game to many of us and it was a fun season of watching a team become a formidable opponent in their league. I watched as an older than average man took a chance at trying to reach his goal one more time. I saw a team that played with confidence and conviction and even when the ball didn’t go their way, or was dropped by one of the members there was no getting down on them and telling them how ‘terrible’ he was. What happen? There was a leader or two that said “it’s over, forget about it and do better next time”. They kept trying and coming back.

The second thing I learned from the Vikings is that if you never take chances you may never know how far you can go. Really, think about it. How many chances have been taken during the season and the game last night. What was their goal? To win! To move on! To live their personal dreams! Now the outcome may not have been reached but I do think there are a few lessons that can be learned from this.

Never feel you are to old to try. If a 40 year old man can have the best season of his 20 year career, so can you!

Never quit! There were 18 games for the Vikings. 18 opportunities to live their dream. To the end they never quit. Never gave up and never stopped believing they could do it!

Never wait for an opportunity to come to you, you have to take chances and go for it. Failure IS an option and should be fully embraced. If you never try you will never succeed. Part of success is going through the failures, so embrace the failures, learn from them, and put them behind you.

When you get a chance, take it. Unlike football, sometimes chances at life do not come around every year in September. When you are given a chance you must take it. Success or failure is not the goal, taking the chance is!

At the end of the day, celebrate and be humble. Even in the greatest of failures, there is something to celebrate—do it with humility and poise.

Enjoy the moment even if it is painful. So many of us forget that the opportunities we are given will be full of passion and emotions. Be okay with feeling them and learning from them.

And finally, remember that a life is not measured by 1 day, rather each day is a measure of life. Live the moment and each day with passion and conviction.

How will we live today?

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