On average, an NFL football game lasts 3 hours and 12 minutes, although the official game clock is set to 60 minutes. Of that 3+ hours, only roughly 18 minutes is actually counted as gameplay…as in the ball snapped and moving. In that 18 minutes, over 100 plays are jam packed into that timeframe.
In preparation for those precious 18 minutes of gameplay, it’s not unusual for an NFL player to practice 10 to 12 hours a day (that’s 60-72 hours per week), six days a week during the season. This includes practice, meetings, film sessions, and travel. This all happens over an 18-week season or 4½ months. In the offseason, players have less structured schedules, but will still work 5-6 hours a day, six days a week. Much more reasonable if you ask me.
Ever prepared that hard for something? Have you ever put in 72 hours of preparation in a week for an 18-minute payoff? This is why NFL players are compensated so well, and why the average player lasts only 3.3 years in the league.
But for us mere mortals, our weeks are much more bland, right? I mean, we put in our time at work, or we take care of our families, or we try to make an impact in our small circles. And since the stakes just aren’t quite as high, we sometimes lazily…dare I say complacently…navigate our next moment, our next day.
But is that ok? Are we ok with muddling through, allowing life to take its twists and turns with us left reacting along the way? Or should we, like an NFL player, be more intentional in our ‘practice’, in this thing we call life? Lest I be misunderstood, I’m not suggesting we all work 72 hours a week at our jobs, for certainly our families and other responsibilities would fall apart. But what I am suggesting is that maybe we can be much more focused on getting our time right. Not allowing life to happen to us, but preparing and working so that we can happen to life. You either go after the life you want, or settle for the one you get.
Gentle reader, far be it for us to complacently drift through our days with no intention or focus. May we drive forward with intentionality and purpose. May we work hard to honor our commitments and our responsibilities. May we derive dignity and meaning from our work and may we achieve significance and success in our dealings with others. May we love intentionally and forgive quickly. May we face forward, with our heads up and shoulders back, into the storms of adversity.
May we prepare daily to encounter life’s challenges with optimism and abundance, knowing that we often suffer more from imagination than reality.
May our moments not pass us by, may we embrace each one, and live intentionally towards the day that awaits.
You were made for such a time as this. With you, humanity survives, even thrives. Without you, a missing piece of the puzzle. We need you to engage with your purpose. We need you to take chances and risks. We need you to bless others with your time, your talents and your treasure.
It’s game time!
Live well. Love others. Focus. Do the work.
And live on purpose today.
