The Super Bowl, for millions of people, is the most exciting game in the world. Every year over 100,000 Americans gather to watch the game, many as if their lives depend on it. What does this say about us as human beings? What does this say about our values? What if our most exciting game were the game called our life? What if creating a radically better future for our children was much more exciting than who wins on Super Bowl Sunday? More people watched the news on 9/11 than watch the Super Bowl. How many more crises will it take for all of us to wake up and engage in the game we're playing, simply be virtue of living in the 21st century? Terrorism, war, extreme poverty, aids, addiction, depression, global warming, pollution, crime, corruption the stakes are much higher than the Super Bowl, yet how many of us are playing as if we have the ball in our hands, and it's up to us? Sadly, many people do relate to the challenges we face as human beings right now as if they are but spectators, watching us all lose as time is running out. Talk, talk, talk and more talk.
Everyone talks about change. Like the armchair quarterbacks, many well-meaning, good people are talking from the sidelines of life, gossiping, criticizing and complaining about what everyone else is doing or not doing. Consider these two important differences between the armchair quarterback watching football and the well-meaning, good person being a spectator in today's world. 1) We're all in this game called life. Everyone is a player, like it or not; yet so much of our team is on the sidelines, watching, cheering, whining, commenting on those who are on the field. Can you imagine a football team where most of the team is not just on the bench, but at home watching the game on TV? Can you imagine a team whose players don't dare even play? They might contribute some money or vote on team decisions, but when it comes time to get down and dirty and play they're nowhere to be found.
Except you. Youre here to play, and you cannot deny it. Life lived from the sidelines would be death for you.
2) The armchair quarterback acts as if his yelling at the TV will make a difference, yet there is nothing he can do to affect the results of the game. We, as human beings in the game of life, often act as if our ideas or our voice won't make a difference, yet everything we choose to do or not do affects the results of the game. Sitting at home yelling at the politician on TV instead of having your voice heard in public makes a difference in the outcome of the game. It's a great strategy for losing the game of life. Complaining about anything and acting as if there's not much you can do about it affects the outcome of the only game that really matters--life itself. When we chose to be an armchair quarterback in the game of life, we are choosing to lose the future we could be creating for our children.
Right now we don't need any more good people, who mean well. Right now, the world needs great people. We need champions. But more than that, what we need is simply more people who are willing to get off the chair, turn off the TV and get out on the field. Greatness begins with the will to act.
One of the most dangerous illusions today is the notion that the people with political power rule the world and the only ones with real power to cause change. Nothing could be further from the truth. Look around you. The world you see was not created by politicians. It was created by individual entrepreneurs, artists, inventors, industrious workers, etc.
Human beings have all the power we need to create a better world right now in our heads and our hearts. It is our creative, intellectual minds and heroic spirits that give us more power than all of the political and military might in the world. And yet, we so often act as if the power is outside of us. Consider that you have the ball. You can run with it right now.
You can put points on the board and affect the outcome of this game called life, not just for yourself but for your team called humanity. The game clock is ticking A multitude of crises threaten our children's future. Everything we value is on the line. Are you on the field?.
As founder of the Vision Force Academy, Michael Skye works with a new breed of impassioned change agents around the world, who are giving their lives to stand for all of humanity. Michael is best known for his transformational leadership trainings, based on his proprietary iStand technology. He authored the the Visionary Mind Shifts for VisionForce.com.
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