The Game of Inches

So I was excited for the snow on Tuesday, but the snow on Wednesday caused me to miss a day of lifting. I will make it up tomorrow though. I will just have to get in the gym two days in a row. It's hard being cooped up in the house for two days straight but I tried my best to enjoy it and make the most of it. I got to shovel some snow out of the drive way and I figured I would try and turn that into a work out of its own.
Lesson learned, shoveling snow isn't "kind of like a work out" it is a work out! Full body work out at that. Got my arms, legs, back, and my forearms all working. I got it done though and it felt good to complete something on a day when you can't really get out to do anything. Cleaned off the two cars as well. After all that shoveling of snow, chipping away of ice, and struggle with gravity to not slip and fall, I was exhausted.
Must have been upwards of 5-6 inches in some spots I shoveled. Funny though because I can always find a relationship between everyday life and football. They say football is the game of inches. So many games have been decided by one inch lost or gained here and there. A field goal that need to be just an inch left or right to miss the upright and go through for the win. Or a pass that's just an inch out of reach for that big gain, or touchdown. You have to cherish every inch of ground you gain on the field and in life, and overcome all the ones you give up or lose. So those inches of snow could have either been a set back, or an opportunity to get better. I chose to get better, even if it was just an inch better. Even if it was just a half an inch better, I did something to move forwad.
It felt good in the end when the job was done. Hardwork and dedication is always worth the outcome whether it is ice and snow, a relationship, or an off season work out. When I woke up I figured the day was shot and I looked at the snow as a reason I couldn't make progress, but I flipped it and made it an opportunity instead of a problem. Don't let things keep you from working towards your goals. Every obstacle can be overcome, we just have to stay positive.

Long Day

I'm approaching my fourth and FINAL season of college football and I'm feeling the pressure build. We had a team meeting today to talk about our goals for the off season, our goals for next season, and all the other important things on the laundry list.

I didn't catch a word of it though to be honest. I was too busy elsewhere in my mind. I mean it was hard to take in the fact that that was my last "off-season" meeting. I couldn't help to think that come this time next year, I will have officially completed my campaign as a Mount Saint Joseph Lion. The jersey with #99 will no longer belong to me. There will be no "better luck next year" for me. There will only be the reality that my football career is merely a memory. Something for the record books, maybe. Or maybe nothing more than just old grid iron tales for my kids and grandkids to listen to so that they can look at me say "yeah right" or " not again!" to. Either way it will be over.

I'm not complaining or mourning about what has yet to come, just coming to a realization. This realization is giving me time to think back on my earliest years of football and ask myself "What have I learned?" To ask myself, "What would I do now that I didn't do then?", and still have time to act on it and do those things. Here comes my last hurrah, a curtain call to what I would say has been a pretty nice college career so far. I'm motivated, inspired, and ready to go out with a bang. It's not how you start, it's how you finish, and I have no other plans than to finish strong.