The Illusion of A Second Chance

How often to second chances occur?

Let’s think about the year 2016. It had numerous notable pop culture events. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt broke up. Pokémon Go was taking over peoples lives, leading them into the street in the middle of traffic. Damn, even the XXL Freshman Freestyle was one for the ages. Let’s focus in specifically on January 10th, 2016. What were you doing then? Maybe listening to hotline bling, maybe watching vines. I hope for this guy’s sake you were not watching the NFL Playoffs.

It’s January 10th, 2016, the Minnesota Vikings are facing the Seattle Seahawks on a chilly Sunday afternoon. The Vikings are down 10-9 with 22 seconds left. The offense has had a hard time moving the ball all day against this stout Seahawk defense but Teddy Bridgewater has positioned his team with a chance to win. In the waning minutes of the game, Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson, and Stefon Diggs has marched the offense down the field and given themselves an opportunity to kick a field goal from 27 yards out to give them the lead and most likely the win. Keep in mind, NFL kickers are the best of the best, with high accuracy rates and seemingly unbelievable range (now consistently knocking down 50+ yard field goals) it’s a foregone conclusion that Minnesota will punch their ticket to the next round. Minnesota Kicker, Blair Walsh, sets up to take the kick, everyone on their feet, excitement buzzing, yet still holding silent as the game is even on home turf. In a matter of seconds… Walsh pulls it, not even close, Minnesota falters on the biggest stage, Seahawks move on, as for the Vikings they lose in devastating fashion on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

Seattle went on to play the Carolina Panthers in the next round and lost (Go Panthers, Keep Pounding) and as for the Vikings, since then Minnesota has been to the playoffs a handful of times, but often cannot make it past the elusive wild card round. As for Blair Walsh, Minnesota cut him the following season, he bounced around the league for a couple years, and now has settled as a real estate agent in Newport Beach. So I ask again, how often do second chances come around?

Now I understand that the NFL is another beast, as most professional sports are. Make one large mistake on the biggest stage, conclusions are gonna be reached, players are gonna get cut, and the fans they will never forget.

I want to tell another story. A story a little closer to home. Actually my home. I snoozed my alarm this morning. 7 am alarm, I snoozed it and slept til 8:30. What the hell? How does this even relate to the story above? Give me a second. Now I have a perceived second chance to get it right tomorrow morning, I set my alarm, I go to sleep earlier then I get up at 7 so I can go workout. Sure. But then I fail again the next day, creating an inconsistent carousel of achieving my goal or bargaining with myself and falling short. While I have another chance to wake up early tomorrow, not only is tomorrow never guaranteed, but this is a prime example of lacking discipline in my daily life. Because I think I have an equal opportunity to achieve it tomorrow. But as Apollo Creed says, there is no tomorrow.

Discipline unlocks our potential. We never will have a second chance to live this winter as at this age again, next year we hope and think a lot will be similar to our lives as it is now and that’s probably the case but we have no idea what the future holds. Our family could be ill, I could be out of a job, we could be at war, we could be in a car crash and I’m in recovery for 9 months. Some of those are extreme but the point stands true that we have no idea. The good, the bad, the ugly. But for today, I know my circumstances, and I have the opportunity to chase what I want, and I have the ambition to lay out my vision, it’s up to me to have the discipline to see it through. That way I can reap the rewards in the future, instead of always feeling behind.

It’s an illusion that you have tomorrow to do everything you want. And it’s equally an illusion that a life you want is fully unattainable. Furthermore, It’s an illusion that we have so much time on this earth. When have you heard anyone who’s old say “man, life went by so slowly.” Finally, It’s an illusion to think we have second chances.

“You do not rise to the level of your dreams. You fall to the level of your systems.” — James Clear

So I ask to you, what do you want? How are you gonna get it? What can we do today to work towards it?

Cheers, see you next week.