A New Way to Think about Super Bowl Sunday LI

The Super Bowl, one of the biggest, flashiest, most anticipated events in the American sporting world. Everyone; from the football teams, to their management, to the sporting fans, to advertisers; literally the entire country and dare I say, the world, anticipates this event.

Everyone, that is, except yours truly! I have no clue about the game. I just don’t get it(don’t judge me please). You see, where I am from, football is what is referred to as soccer here in the US. And football is more akin to rugby. Rugby, which is really not that popular back home, is not a sport I enjoy watching. I always thought it was much too rough.

Nevertheless, despite my lack of interest in the game and the sport overall, I was interested enough to follow the headlines, mainly because the team from my current city made it to the Super Bowl! Yeah!!

The city was lit!!! Hopes and dreams, aspirations, anticipation, celebration. It was all demonstrated during the last few weeks leading up to the finals.

So I took some time to think about the game and what lessons we can learn from Super Bowl LI.

Here are 5 life lessons I came up with:-

Life Lesson #1 : Anticipate the best but prepare for the worst

Hometown Team was the underdog of the Super Bowl. No surprises there. Hugely underestimated in the efforts to make it to the finals, but they did; much to the delight of the home crowd. And rightly so!

However as the game progressed, hometown team was leading by what seemed to be an unrecoverable margin for the opponent. Home fans started celebrating! After parties got going, fans were drinking. But the fat lady had not sang. Whilst the home spirit was admirable, it’s not over ‘til it’s over. Hometown team lost by a narrow margin, which made it even more difficult a loss to swallow. 

There is definitely a take away here. In life, you may be on top and things seem to all be going your way. At a moment’s notice, the winds shift and your whole world is turned upside down. The life lesson here is to be prepared for life’s eventualities. Whether it be financially, emotionally or otherwise. Do not let down your guard; stay focused and BE PREPARED!

 

 Life Lesson #2: Never underestimate your challenges

Back to the hometown team, they were competing against a many-time Super Bowl championship team. Of course they went in with confidence with the full backing of the home crowd. However they were up against the experience and tenacity of the opponent. Despite getting a very sizeable lead up until the 3^rd quarter, they could not sustain. According to the coach, they ran out of steam and that cost the game.

Lesson here is that in life we cannot underestimate our challenges. Don’t take them lightly or procrastinate, no matter how trivial they seem. If we do, we will not put in the effort required to solve them. Small issues left unattended turn into huge problems.

 

Life Lesson #3: It’s not always about winning

It’s the day after the Super Bowl. My 5 year old wakes up; he found out hometown team lost. He was unbelievably upset! Sulking and even crying at some point. From the viewpoint of a 5 year old(and some adults), winning is IT! But it really isn’t. Sometimes you give it all you’ve got and it’s just not enough. That’s life! You pick yourself up and refocus, learn from your mistakes and try again.

 

Life Lesson #4: Pace Yourself

Hometown team went out very aggressively at the start of the game. Whatever the game plan was, they seemed to have lost that vitality and energy in the last quarter and they were totally left helpless at the hands of the opponent.

Remember, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Some of us make snap decisions that provide benefit for the moment at the expense of our long term good. Instead, focus on making good sustainable long term decisions that will set us up for growth. Without growth, life becomes stale and there is no inner drive to persevere. We all need something to aspire towards.

 Finally,

Life Lesson #5, Trust the process

Hometown team had not been to the Super Bowl in 18 years. As you can imagine, there was a lot was riding on this opportunity. While I would hate to speak out of turn here, I believe that this loss is part of the growth process which they must go through in order to sustain when they reach to this stage the next time. Hopefully it won’t be another 18 years, but from what I gather they have the makings of a team being built up with young talented players.

Similarly in life, we must appreciate the process. It’s the process that shapes us and molds us into what we are becoming. If we focus too much on the results or the outcome of each situation, we miss the lessons that we must learn along the way that will benefit us over the long haul. When we get too consumed with the immediate end result, we are willing to do whatever it takes to get us there. Those decisions are not always in our best interest.

I hope these words of encouragement resonate with you as they did with me. Let me know if you find these kinds of posts useful. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below and follow me using my social media links. Thanks again for taking the time to read and see you next time!