;)
*Language Alert: This post contains some explicit language. If you are among the faint at heart or sensitive to certain words, consider this advance notice. **I became sick on Wednesday, so this post for Letter I comes about an hour late. As such, my post for Letter J will be published later this evening.
The ideal guide to life would probably come in several volumes, like the Britannica Encyclopedia, with chapters titled “Do X-Y-Z and you will be happy,” “How to Guarantee You’ll Never Get Fired or Laid Off,” “This is where to find your soul mate,” “The Magic Bullet to Riches” and “The Instant Beautification Plan.” Since no such instruction manual to life exists, we are all left to fend for ourselves – some on an uneven playing field – in a game of chance where the winner takes all and the loser dies alone, unfulfilled and miserable. Lucky for us, the game of life that we’re playing is unlike many board games, hand games, card games and more specifically -- contact sports, where the definition of a winning team and a losing team is so clear, cut and dry.
The winning team in this game of life is filled with Olympic Gold Medalists and Innovators, indeed – but it also contains players (i.e. people) who are willing to do what is necessary for them to have a chance to also be a medalist or MVP. The losing team in this game of life are not just filled with players who just don’t make the cut – it also contains people who tried but quit as well as those who only put in the bare minimum to play the game, as if that’s going to be enough to win.
Players on the winning team – medalists or not – have something in common that those on the losing team don’t possess: an unrelenting hunger or thirst for the edge that’s going to help them reach their goals. Players on the losing team also have something in common – a habit of approaching their objectives halfway, putting in just enough time and energy to get by. The goal – scoring a touchdown, finding peace and happiness, living debt free, becoming physically fit, landing that dream job or profession, buying a house, strengthening friendships, finding love, going on a caribbean vacation – whatever it may be is besides the point. Just when these players think they found an edge by putting in 70% or 90% or even 100% of what they’re offering, those on the winning team go and put in 110% -- because the latter group knows it ain’t over until it’s over!
;)
In Oliver Stone’s football drama “Any Given Sunday” starring Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx and Dennis Quaid, a Coach named Tony D’Amato sums up this hunger for leaving no amount of grass out on the field of opportunity untouched, as he likens it to gaining enough inches to score your goal.
“Life is a game of inches. In life, the margin of error is so small – one half of a step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it. One half of a second too slow or too fast, you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break, every minute, every second,” he says. Now I don’t know about you, but I think we could all use some better handling methods for the inches we need in our lives.
If you want to win in life and play this game as best as you can, you don’t throw in the towel during the second quarter or halftime just because you’re down ten points; hell -- you don’t even throw in the towel during the fourth quarter if you’re up ten points with three minutes left in the game. That is at least, if you want to win – ‘cause the other team could capitalize on those three minutes and turn you into a loser just as quick as you started celebrating your dominant streak.
That’s just how fickle life is – we’re all on edge, trying to find our edge – many, unfortunately, even working hard (and basically wasting time that could be better spent doing more productive tasks) to get one-up on the next person. The alarming fact is, however, we don’t get overtime to try and make up for what we missed during the game of life.
;)
It’s all still a gamble, as we place bets on what we think seems like the best decisions, or the safest decisions about our next move. These decisions guide our actions on the path that is expected to lead us where we want to go or to who we want to be.
The choice of whether to play on a winning team or a losing team is yours; know that you pick one every time your actions either work to the benefit or the detriment of why we’re here in the first place.
So, I don’t know about you but I think we could benefit from being on a team like Tony D’Amato’s group of players – at least they set out to win and get results:
On this team, we fight for that inch – we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces, for that inch…because we know that when we add up all those inches, that’s gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing, between living and dying. In any fight, it’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s gonna win that inch; and I know if I’m going to have any life anymore, it’s because I’m still willing to fight and die for that inch – because that’s what living is – the six inches in front of your face. Now, I can’t make you do it…” says D’Amato; and I don’t blame him. Nobody can make us work harder and have that hunger for the edge needed to survive. We have to want it and do it for ourselves.
The countdown is on, so what are you going to do – how are you going to participate in this game? Are you going to get out on the field and play ball? Are you going to sit on the sidelines and live vicariously through every yard that your favorite player gains? Or, are you going to watch from the bleachers and commentate on the best or worst moves from both teams?
If you want to be on the team that wants to win, your desires must be met with actions that keep your name on that team’s roster. You have to be willing and able to go the distance – inch by inch, play by play, until you make it – until you’re able to live to see another day. Otherwise, you will lose – as you’re time-out in this game gets closer and more permanent.
Can you describe a time in your life when putting forth some extra efforts toward a task, actually paid off?
Are you known for giving the bare minimum performance every time or are you likely to go for that INCH?