Just a Moment Ago

Our life is made up of moments, each one individual in its own right, but in some way, connected to all the others preceding it and following it. Now in these moments we become a different person in our reactions to whatever happens to us. They can be both positive and negative towards our growth in life.

Sometimes, these moments can stay with us for the rest of our lives, with us going back in the memory bank and using them as a guide or some type of motivation. Because we all live life for various reasons, with those motivations often coming in the form of mistakes in the past. Some people live a certain way for that very reason, to right some kind of wrong that happened in their lives.

I bring this up, because it actually relates to the football field. As I write these words now, I have one day left in my entire football/organized sport playing career. It's a fascinating feeling. I'm a much different person now than I was back on the first day of Freshman year. My motivations for playing the game have changed as well.

My first two years, I played the game based on something that happened in my past days of playing football. Something negative that happened in a game, which motivated me to work harder than I ever had before, just to make sure I righted that wrong in my life, and that success would be what I remembered from playing the sport, instead of bitter defeat.

Something changed after my sophomore year though, and once again it came in the midst of a devastating loss. Being upset in the playoffs will hurt anyone, and become the cause for motivation for anyone involved. This time though, I did not get anger out of this game, I got something more. I looked in the eyes of the guys who would never play the game again, and thought, isn't this a bit selfish of me, to simply go out and play the game just for myself? Sure, I can have that moment from high school in the back of my mind if I want, but I'd get a lot more out of it if I had someone else to be responsible for.

So, I changed. I thought of everyone on the team, and their backstory, and the way they worked out on the field, and their feelings, and saw something in myself change. I worked just as hard, but there was more of a love in doing so, in that if I did not work as hard as I could, I'd not only be letting myself down, but every single person on the team as well. Learning more about my teammates, I began to have more fun, and enjoy the game for what it was worth. Memories started to emerge, and feelings I did not know I had of this all fading away once my career ended. I mean, I'm going to miss these guys.

Yet, as I sit here in the moment, I realize that this is something I will look back on and smile throughout my life. And that this transformation within myself, from doing something just for myself, to doing it for my teammates as well, will serve me well in life.

Sure, in our everyday lives we must look out for ourselves. That's very important. But by looking out for others, loved ones, friends, family, but strangers too, it makes our lives much more worthwhile. There's a rush to feeling depended on, and responsible for not only our own success, but others as well. Life is too boring all on our own, we need to see the world through other people's eyes as well, because it is often so different than ours that we cannot look away. As we get to know more and more people, and what makes them happy, that makes life a lot more fun.

This moment is a special one, no matter what it is. So it's time to enjoy it, and let it be a memory that we use throughout our lives.

So, tomorrow ends my football career, but 20 years from now, I'll be talking with one of my ex-teammates about something that happened during the season, and at some point, someone will say, "That feels like so long ago."

I'll answer, "Nah, it was only a moment ago."