Don't Give up the Ship

It’s Super Bowl Sunday and over the past week, I have been thinking about the life lessons that the sport of football has taught me. This year, the lesson has been don’t give up the ship!

We were in the midst of watching the Ravens play the Denver Broncos in the AFC playoff game. It wasn’t looking good for the Ravens. I called my son who was watching the game with his friends in Virginia. “Don’t give up yet, Mom,” he told me and he added how the Ravens really wanted to win and who knew what they might be able to pull off.

I hung up the phone hopeful, but realistic. It just wasn’t looking good for our team. Then with less than a minute left in regulation time, it was touchdown Ravens and the score was tied! We were headed into over time!

For the next ten to fifteen minutes, I didn’t breath very well. It was just too close! Then in the second overtime period, the Ravens came within field goal range. Could it be possible? Could they win it?

The Ravens and their team leader, Ray Lewis, were considered underdogs in each playoff came they entered. But they never gave up the ship. The signs in Boston that were counting down to Ray’s retirement are still counting down. The Baltimore home team never lost its drive.

The Ravens’ lesson is a lesson for all of us. Things might not be going our way, but if we get in there and give it all we’ve got, we, too, might be heading for that Super Bowl game and putting off our own retirements!

A few months ago, a student of mine approached me with a problem that she had been dealing with at home. She was feeling quite depressed. We talked over many lunch shifts and she began to develop a plan to change the situation. She set a goal and began to work diligently towards achieving that goal. Recently, she popped into my classroom with a big grin on her face. Things were beginning to go her way, and she was feeling much more confident and capable. She hadn’t given up the ship!

Sports are just games, but they’re games that are a part of our lives, whether we play or watch from the sidelines. One of the lessons that the players demonstrate for us on a regular basis is to persevere; to keep on trying even when the odds are against you. It’s a lesson we can live with. I know I have a few goals that I don’t plan on giving up on, how about you?