BLIND SIDE

Since it's football season, I decided to write an article on a football related topic.  However, in a deeper spiritual sense, it is what life is all about.  There is a football movie titled, "The Blind Side."  It is a true story based on the life of a professional football player named, Michael Oher, who was a homeless, black teenager who drifted in and out of the public school system for years.  He was subsequently adopted by an affluent white couple.  It was an inspiring movie which I recommend everyone to watch.  The irony of the movie was that it transformed not only the life of Michael Oher but the lives of all the family members that adopted him.  In football, blind side is the side of the offensive line that the quarterback is facing away from while he is in the pocket.  For a right handed quarterback, that would be the left side on the offensive line.  The opposite is true for the left handed quarterback.  Since a quarterback is, by all accounts, the most important component of a successful football team, teams will often put their best offensive lineman on the blind side to lessen the risk of pressure and injury to their quarterback.  In reality, isn't that what life is all about?  We all get blind sided every so often.
 An unexpected death or illness or just when things are not going as planned can be considered being blind sided.  This is what makes life an adventure.  I would not want it any other way.  If you think about it, what's the alternative?  The answer is pretty clear to me.  I mean, if you weren't around, you wouldn't be blind sided.  If you think of it that way, most sane individuals would prefer to be blind sided.  We have all heard individuals say that they wish life would be easier.  Instead of an easier life, how about wishing for more wisdom to deal with whatever is put in your path?  David Frost said, " Two roads diverged in the woods and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."  You see bumps in life, or as I sometimes refer to as hiccups, are signs that you are getting closer to your goals.  Once you understand this truth, nothing will ever worry you.  I sometimes laugh, when I get blind sided because, I know it will all work out.  It has to!  Think about it, how many problems have you personally had in life that blind sided you up to now? And, guess what?  You are still here.  So it all worked out didn't it?  It probably made you a better and stronger person.  In fact, I believe if you have an easy life, it can turn you into an uncreative procrastinator or avoider.  Why wouldn't it?  You wouldn't have any incentive to challenge yourself and  grow.  Growing, which involves some kind of risk taking will be non existent in your everyday life activities if you choose the easy route.
 We are here for a purpose.  I remember awhile ago having a conversation with my wife about life's purpose and I was sobbing when I asked her, is this what life is, working, paying taxes and dying?  I love living.  For me living is exploring and a never ending project.  It's crazy, but I do not want to be comfortable in life.  I want to always be moving ahead and exploring.  Comfortable to me is what most individuals live for.  Call me whatever you want to call me but I rather live an uncomfortable life.  Being uncomfortable keeps the fire in my belly constantly burning. We will all reach a point in our physical existence when it it time to leave the planet.  That will be the only time when I expect to be comfortable.  Not necessarily physically comfortable but instead comfortable knowing that I have fulfilled my inherent desire to live an amazing, full and complete life.  A life where I completely nourished my inner desires and therefore,  fulfilled my mission.  I understand that this can be a daunting standard for many individuals but for me it is the only standard. I remember my father telling me that even when you get knocked down you can always lean forward to continue to make progress.  We see this all the time in football.  When a player is about to get tackled, he stretches out and reaches forward for the extra yard.  So when you're falling down, as we all will at some point in our lives, don't feel pity but instead stretch out and, fall forward for the extra yard in this game called life.  Just like in football, we will get hit.  Accept it, get up and move on.   I leave you with the following quote, "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take." 
-Author unknown 
      Just a thought.
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