SUPER BOWL
- Gwen Henderson
- Feb 19, 2024
- 3 min read
SUPER BOWL
I try to be a bit informed about most things American, so I joined the 123 plus millions of you to watch Super Bowl 2024. I and my husband usually “watch” the game for the commercials, the half time entertainment, the food, and we exit. We watched it alone this year - the entire thing including overtime and then complained about the 5 hours that we could never recover. The bottom line is that I am a lack luster, uninformed spectator on the far-left side of the spectrum of spectators which includes many who function as if they are being paid more than Patrick or Travis – no judgement here. Neither we nor the coaches are on the field executing plays. The coaches tell players what to do but they too are spectators of a sort.
After watching the game, questions came to mind as I sought to extract value from the five hours. I pictured life as the Superbowl. If a spectator, am I a fanatic? If a player, am I an offensive, defensive, or special teams’ player? If coach, am I the head coach, defensive, offensive, or special teams coach? Am I the owner of my team(life)? Or am I the general manager?
Each question led my thoughts down a rabbit hole, so I stopped asking questions and sought to find the value in asking and answering some of them.
Am I a spectator of my life? Do I expend energy and time cheering and encouraging myself as I live life, or do I sit in an easy chair watching with others as life happens to me on the field? In other words, am I unwilling or afraid to be hurt, bruised, and battered by living my life? What might that look like? It could look like choosing to not actively manage my physical, emotional, and spiritual health. I AM A SUPER SPECTATOR!
Or am I a player actively engaged in my life? Am I an offensive, defensive, or special teams’ player? What might that look like in the game of life? I like to think that I am an offensive player. I make things happen for me and my family versus defending my physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing after someone or something threatens it. For me that means I plan to happen to my day every day rather than my day happening to me. This play lessens the potential use of a special team’s player to kick a long field goal to try to win the game of the day.
Am I the coach for my life and/or the coach for others? Let me be transparent – I have tried to coach myself with less than the best results. Coaches are my listening mirrors (friends). They listen to and see me, my potential, weaknesses, and strengths and reflect back to me much like a mirror how to live offensively, defensively and encourage me to punt when necessary.
This is my take-away from five hours of watching Superbowl 2024, thus confirming once again my belief that nothing I do is ever wasted. I need only look for the pearl that lies within. Spectator, player, or coach? I am all three but not all at the same time.
PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Your life is your Super Bowl every day. Play to win.
Enjoyed this analogy! I, too, watched the Super Bowl but ‘missed’ the first half catching up with a friend. If one can imagine, we talked on the phone for three hours sharing our lives (to use your analogy) as spectators and players, and coaches/coaching. Some might thing 3 hours in the phone would be a ‘waste’ of time… but no. As you said, Gwen, nothing is ever wasted. My Super Bowl Sunday was filled with plenty of game time, literally and figuratively!
Btw - I’m part of a prayer group that recites Psalm 91 at the close of our time together every morning!