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by Linsey Lanier
I’m not a great sports fan, but since hubby is, this time of year I see almost more football than I can stand. (I did say “almost.”)
Forest Gump once said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” I say, life
is more like a football game. You never know when some three-hundred-and-fifty pound lineman will come out of nowhere and slam you flat on your you-know-what. Like when the stock market takes a dip just after you increase your 401(k) contributions. Or you come home from a hard day’s work and your husband tells you the car is totaled. Or you get an ego-flattening rejection from an editor or agent. Splat.
Of course, life isn’t always so bad. Sometimes you make a first down. Sometimes, you even make a touchdown. Sometimes things can go unexpectedly in your favor. Instead of the other team scoring, you intercept the ball and score. Like when you get a raise at work. Or hubby surprises you with dinner at your favorite restaurant. Or you enter a rough draft in a writing contest not expecting to win, and you take first place.
I wish things could always be a breeze. One strong, well-aimed pass, and your receiver catches the ball and “takes it to the house” to win. The crowd cheers. Your teammates high-five you. Life couldn’t be sweeter.
Sort of like a call from an agent with your third million-dollar contract. That sort of stuff happens, but very rarely. Most of the time, life just isn’t that easy. As Françoise de Maintenon said, “We do not meet with success except by reiterated efforts.” Or as Antoine de Saint-Exupery put it, “What saves a man [or woman] is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.”
Just as in football, success in life doesn’t come in the form of one easy touchdown after another. It takes many small successes to reach the goal line. Many first downs, many punts, many penalties, tackles, and sometimes a loss of yardage. It seems you always have to start over again and push forward just a few yards at a time, until you’re five feet away from the end zone. “Three yards and a cloud of dust,” as Woody Hayes put it — a “crunching, frontal assault of muscle against muscle, bone upon bone, will against will.” (Quoting from Wikipedia.)
And when you’re inches away from winning the game, what will you do?
This sobering quote from Thomas Alva Edison gives us a clue: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” The message is simple.
Don’t give up.
What are your goals for 2011? What small steps will you take to achieve them? Do you feel you’re inches from the goal line? Or did the other team just score and you’re having to kick-off from your own 30 yard line?
In honor of our Two-Year Anniversary this month, I’m giving away a $10 certificate to Amazon to the commenter with the best answer..png "Smile"){kind=small}
by Linsey Lanier
30 comments
I like the advice to take that step and your sports analogy. Great post.
I think I have been close at various times and then it doesn’t pan out but you have to keep trying.
Marilyn
You can’t look at that person who’s had that rare “Hail Mary” pass that scores the touchdown and compare. You do have to take it one play at a time, each one moving forward and even occasionally getting “sacked” and losing a few yards. But then you keep forging ahead. Thanks for the encouraging post. I have a new book idea, so my goal is to write that book.
Linsey,
I enjoyed your post! Liked the football analogy and quotes. You are so right, Never Give UP!
Great post, Linsey. I needed to hear “…to take a step. Then another step.” I feel like I’m repeating the same steps, but maybe there’s a purpose. And maybe I’ll reach the end zone.
Great post, Linsey. For me, it seems like life is two steps forward, one step back (and occasionally, the opposite) but that’s not gonna stop me. Thanks for the encouragement on this snowy day!
Thanks, Marilyn. Yes, close and yet so far. I know the feeling. The only way to get across the goal line is to keep trying. If you give up, you guarantee you’ll never get there.
Hi, Lindi. You are so right about “Hail Marys.” I have that problem. Glad I could be encouraging. Good luck on your new book.
Thanks, Maxine. Those quotes are worth remembering, even if we’ve heard something similar before. We can never hear them enough.
So true, Sia. The key is in the repetition. Keep doing it until it works. Kind of like situps.
Thanks, Pam. Oh, me too. It’s such a struggle sometimes. I wish it were easier, but all we can do is hunker down and do our best.
Yes, the snow is an example of that. Can you believe 5 inches in Atlanta! Most of us are housebound, thwarting our plans for the day. But it makes for good writing weather, so everybody get busy.
Good analogy, good advice, Linsey. Perseverance is the key!
Great, Linsey,
There’s a nice landscape of white out the windows of my office. But my main focus is on my computer screen.
You’re right about step by step and not giving up…that’s the only way to win at any game in life.
My goals for 2011 include continuing to treat my writing as a business…minimum of 6 hours 5 days a week. Hour by hour…word by word…and soon I’ll be at the goal line…THE END.
Sandy
Hey Linsey!!! I can so relate to this. Right now I’m having to kick off at the moment, but I do see the goal post getting closer and closer. My small step is sitting down and taking stock of what I really want out of life. How do I plan to get from point A to point B? And what are my “real” priorities for the position I am currently in? Maybe these aren’t so small of steps, but the re-evaluation and coming up with an implementation plan is a lot smaller than the actual putting the plan into action. So I’m saying this is my small step to achieve what I really want out of life.
Fun post, Linsey. Thanks for the great football analogy.
Tami
Linsey, great metaphor even if I am still smarting from the Tennessee football game. I suppose I feel as though I’m playing a pretty steady game for good field position. ; )
To tell you the truth Linsey, for the first time in my life I feel like I’m actually inches from the goal line. I’m normally a pessimist, a definite glass half empty sort of gal, but the good news I received last year is almost like an inspiring pep talk from a winning coach. “You can do it! Don’t give up! You’re inches from victory!”
I like feeling more confident. It changes my whole perspective.
My goals for this year are simple. Finish two books and get both under contract.
And now that the coach in my head is giving me a well deserved pat on the butt, I really feel like I can do it.
Excellent metaphor Linsey!
Good luck with your goals!
Have a great day,
Tamara
Wonderful post, Linsey! I loved your analogy to football. That is so true to life.
I have several goals for 2011. The first one is to learn to know myself better and what I want out of life. That will take a lot of soul searching. The second is to lose a lot of weight.
I know that with these two goals, all I can do is play minute by minute if I have to, and then day by day. Sometimes you have to take little bitty steps before you can take the bigger ones.
We are having our first winter storm of the year in KC today and tomorrow as well. I know you aren’t used to it in Atlanta!
Hope everyone is having a Happy New Year!
Love the message, Lindsey, especially those powerful quotes; “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Sends shivers down the spine!
And this one: “Three yards and a cloud of dust,” as Woody Hayes put it — a “crunching, frontal assault of muscle against muscle, bone upon bone, will against will.” So vivid! Sometimes this is just how I feel when I’m staring at that blank page. LOL. Thanks for the inspiration.
I love this post! I have my goals listed and the key is “never give up and never surrender.”
Thanks for the pep talk.
Great post, Linsey! And excellent analogy. Sometimes it really feels like fighting your way through a wall of opposing linemen just to get words on the page, yardage under the belt.
I’ve had a rough scrimmage the last few years, being repeatedly sacked and losing a lot of yardage. But I’ve taken half time to review my game plan and I’m coming back onto the field with renewed determination. I’ve been monitoring various publishing blogs and made a list of editors and agents who are actively acquiring in my subgenre, and I plan to query one per month (or more if I hear back quickly enough.) Now that I have two marketable manuscripts in two different subgenres, that gives me a fallback option if, as before, they like the voice but not the particular storyline.
Thanks Carol. You are a prime example of perseverance. You just crossed the goal line!
Congratulations on your self-discipline, Sandy. Good for you. I’ve been peeking out at the winter wonderland all day.
“Hour by hour…word by word.” That’s some good inspiration, too.
Hi, Tami! Glad you liked the post. It’s always good to think about what we really want out of life every once in awhile. If we don’t, we’ll never get it.
Sorry about Tennessee, Sally. But the Falcons are in the playoffs! Ah, good field position is everything, my hubby tells me, so you’re right on. (Btw, he edited my post for the correct terminology. I’m glad he did, since some real football fans are reading it!)
You are so right, Tamara. Nothing succeeds like success. Yes, you can do it. You always could.
Hi Cathy. Learning to know myself and what I want out of life is one of my favorite topics! Too bad they don’t pay you for that. (At least not directly.) And I have that weight loss goal, too. Or at least to get in better shape. Little bitty steps are better than no steps at all. Even if you have to take them in the snow.
Glad I could inspire you, Darcy. Those quotes are pretty powerful. I can say that because I didn’t write them. You are such a gentle soul, it’s hard to imagine you in a crunching frontal assault, but that’s exactly what happens inside our brains as we wrestle those words onto the page. Good luck with your current project!
You’re really running with the analogy, EC.
I’m cheering you on from the grandstand. Querying editors and agents is the hardest thing to do, imo. It takes a lot of courage. But we’ll never get published if we don’t. Good for you!
Thanks, everyone for your terrific comments!
The winner of the $10 certificate to Amazon is . . . drum roll, please …
EC Spurlock!
EC, please send you email address to pfhtbloggers@yahoo.com, and we’ll get the right out to you!
Congratulations!
My goal for this year is to take better care of my health. I was sick way to much last year, and I want this year to be better. If I can loose some weight along the way that will be good too.
Great post Linsey! Sorry for the delayed response.
I really loved the quote about “Inches from success”!
LOL, there are some days I just hope the other quarterback gets tired of sacking me!