Sunday, February 4, 2018 was the 52nd Super Bowl. As an avid sports fan, I always enjoy watching this championship game even if my team (San Francisco 49ers) isn’t in it!
Today’s game was between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. The Patriots were the overwhelming favorites and the Eagles were the undisputed underdogs. The Eagles starting quarterback, Carson Wentz tore his ACL in week 14 and all of the experts gave up on the Eagles. Up until that point, the Eagles were having a stellar season and with the injury their chances of moving toward a championship season appeared doomed.
The Patriots on the other hand are perennial favorites. And with good reason. They compete hard year after year, always have a winning record and they have won 5 titles including last year when they were down 28-3 and came back to win in overtime. Tom Brady, at 40 years old is playing like a much younger man and the conversation all year has been whether or not he is the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time).
This was an epic battle between David and Goliath. Eagles fans even took to wearing dog masks to represent and embrace their status as the “underdogs”. Most of the experts weren’t giving the Eagles much of a chance to win and were just hoping for a game that wasn’t a blow out.
Well, they got one part right. The game was not a blow out and the EAGLES WON!!! And they won with their back up quarterback, Nick Foles. The game was not a defensive struggle either. The scoring went back and forth for the entire game and the Patriots almost pulled it out.
Even if you don’t like football, this game has some lessons for all of us:
NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF: Times can get challenging and you really learn about yourself and your support system when things are not going well. The Eagles led for most of the game and then the Patriots came back and took the lead in the 3rd quarter. The Eagles stuck to their game plan and ultimately came out victorious. When the Patriots took the lead, the Eagles could have hung their heads and shifted their focus instead of sticking to their plan.
ALWAYS BELIEVE IN YOURSELF: This one is kind of like the first but it’s different in that this one more about knowing who you are and what you bring to a situation. The Eagles didn’t play like underdogs. They acknowledged that others saw them that way and they even embraced it but in the game they played like champions. They didn’t make a bunch of mistakes or mental errors. There will be times in life where no one else will believe in you but you can still believe in you. And that belief is more important than anyone else’s belief. There are countless inventions that may never have been had the inventor listened to those who said, “I don’t think that sounds do-able”. Iphone, anyone?
DEVELOP YOUR OWN GAME PLAN: When the starting quarterback went down, the head coach acknowledged that they made changes to their game plan to make it easier for the back up quarterback to learn the plays. What works for one person may not be what’s best for you. Just because someone else has been successful using a particular method or system doesn’t mean that is what you should do. It can be scary to do something your own way but it’s important to know what works for you and what doesn’t.
And finally, CELEBRATE THE VICTORIES (large & small): The Eagles just won the Super Bowl which is a HUGE victory but along the way they had to win enough games during the regular season to even get to the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, they had to win each of those games to get to the championship game. With each game, they were the underdogs. No one gave them a shot of getting to the next step. But they did. And they did it in spite of no one believing that they could.
Cupcakes I made for the superbowl party!
Our lives are usually a series of small victories and triumphs with a few BIG victories thrown in. Life is full of fits and starts, 3 steps forward and 1 step back. That is the dance. There are times when it feels like there are more backward steps than steps forward. I think at these times it’s important to remind ourselves that we possess the tools to move forward.
How do you stay positive when life is giving you lemons?
