Never Give Up – a lesson to be learned from the Super Bowl

If you know me at all, you know I hate football. My allegiance to the New York Giants was forced upon me by marriage, but truly the only reason I care who wins is it will put my husband in either a good or bad mood. That and the color of the team uniforms are the deciding factors in which team I root for, if you can even get me to sit and watch the game in the first place. But, year after year, I participate in the American tradition of attending a Super Bowl party and watching the game, even though, really, I'm more concerned with the commercials, the halftime show, and what boxes I have in the pool at work.

This year was no different. I decided that I wanted the Seattle Seahawks to win for three reasons:
1. That's what my husband and kids wanted
2. My kids were wearing Seattle Jerseys
3. Seattle has really nice uniforms

As I half-heartedly watched the game, I was very happy to see that Seattle was in the lead. But we all know that that is not how it ended.

Many people have different opinions of the outcome of this game, but my point of view is kind of unbiased, as I didn't really care who won. I have asked many people what they think the take home message was from this game, and I have listened to their different opinions, but here is what I think.

I think the message is NEVER GIVE UP.  The New England Patriots went into halftime down 10 points. They went into the fourth quarter down 10 points.  I'm pretty sure that wasn't the game plan going into the biggest game of the year. But they didn't give up.

What's the analogy here?

Lots of people try to get healthier by eating better or beginning to exercise. Sometimes people start too quickly and take too much on at once. Maybe you tried and failed already. I say, NEVER GIVE UP.

Did you make a New Years resolution this year? Have you already forgotten about it? That's okay. It doesn't have to be the new year for you to decide to change your life for the better. Start small, pick one thing that you want to change, and don't be afraid to pick something that you have tried to do before, but weren't successful at.

In January of 2015, I posted a blog that outlined three strategies to help you achieve your goals (Making Your Resolutions a Reality). If you didn't already read it, check it out. If you did, have you been successful? In that same blog post, I mentioned that I have tried to get myself to drink more water time and time again.  I failed numerous times.

But I didn't give up.

This year, my New Year’s resolution was to drink at least two liters of water a day. I am happy to say that it is now mid-February, and so far I have been successful. There may have been one or two days that I may have fallen short a tad, but for the most part, I have been drinking about three liters of water each day. I have noticed a difference in how I feel. I have not had any headaches (most of my headaches are hunger or dehydration induced). I'm glad I didn't give up.

When I discussed the idea of this blog post with my husband, I asked him what he thought a lesson learned from the Super Bowl was.  He did not say “Never Give Up.” He wasn't looking at the game from the New England Patriot point of view and I know (at least where I come from) that many people agree with him. But put yourself in the Patriot’s shoes for a minute. It would have been really easy to give up in the second half. It would have been even easier to give up in the fourth quarter when you are down by 10 points. But they didn't, and because they didn't, they won the game.

Your game isn't over yet either, don't give up, you can still win.