Super Bowl

I’m watching the Super Bowl right now. In football, I cheer for the Indianapolis Colts and anyone who plays the Patriots, no matter what the odds.* I like football, especially if it’s a good game and not a blowout. I love when both the offense and the defense are on point. When both are doing their jobs well, it makes for an adventurous game and it’s exciting. It’s the same in life. You have the choice to move forward or not, it can be exciting or constant work trying to prevent all possible problems that might come.

There are different ways to approach life. I honestly don’t know how many ways there are, but when I looked it up, I saw anywhere from 3 to 17 different ways. I honestly didn’t read any of the links, but I found it interesting that there was such variation, but what I took from the differing numbers is that there isn’t one right way to approach life.

React or Respond

I was in an accident before Christmas. I was on I65 North and ran into the back of a car. I really don’t know where he came from. I looked up at a sign on the highway for a split second and there he was stopped in front of me. I have no idea where he came from. I was in such shock that he was there that I froze. I simply hit the breaks hard and skidded into him. I probably could have veered to the side to get around him, but I was reacting instead of responding. I was playing defense instead of offense.

The players on an offensive team are pushing toward something. They are always looking for the opportunities to make the pass, catch the ball, find a path to the end zone. They are equally alert to any opportunities to score and anything that can stand in their way of scoring. They respond to the different plays. The defensive players are trying to hinder the progress of the other team. They will do whatever they can to keep progress from happening. I live my life defensively. They react to different plays.

Looking Forward or Pushing Back

As I watch the Super Bowl and think about the jobs of the offense and defense, I see that by living defensively I have been working most of my life to prevent things from happening rather than working toward a goal and making progress. When I was in the abuse, I had to protect myself and I honestly didn’t think I had a future. But I can have one now. To do so, though, I need to change over to primarily the offensive team and moving forward.

My life is not a game. I can no longer allow former players in my life to continue to dictate my movements and influence my future. I will essentially have to go into training to learn an entirely different way to live, but I believe my life is worth it.

And so is yours!

~ Joanna Lynn

• Yes I know the Patriots won…