5 Super Bowl Lessons from the Sidelines - from a Non-Fan

Technically, I am not a non-fan. I angst, jump, and cheer for my team at all the right moments. I don the team colors as necessary, I check out stats and team bio's, and I ruminate aloud about my team's success long past the run-down of the clock. Oh, I'm a fan, alright. I've just been dubbed a "non-fan" by my family because of the WAY in which I picked my team.

Early in this year's season (last September) I decided to abandon the home team and just "pick" a team. That's right - I was tired of waiting almost two decades for the home team to make good. After almost twenty years of depressing Sunday afternoons and futile hopes of just one post-season playoff game... I called it quits on the home team boys and turned my affections elsewhere.

My family played the part of the lover scorned, but I didn't care. I felt free for the first time in years! I was free to choose. So I looked around the NFL and cast my sights toward a team that represented a part of the country I long admired for its reputation of stiff upper lip, dogged perseverance, endurance, and general no-nonsense attitude. Yep. I picked New England. And the other upside is that I liked the color of the uniforms.

My husband and daughters suffered a typically bruising year on the gridiron, but I sailed through, giddy in the flush of new love. Each win just made me more confident that I'd picked the right team - one that was good to me and regarded my feelings tenderly. I ran confidently to the Super Bowl with the enthusiasm of a TRUE fan - not one that hastily picked a team at the last minute so The Game would have meaning.

As the score widened with a 25 point deficit, and the clock seemed to be running out on my New England Patriots, I endured the smug, "told-you-so" looks of my family. My teenage girls, dressed in red and black, cheered heartlessly. But in the final quarter, my team proved faithful. They fought courageously and won! Boy, did I ruminate! And here are my life lesson take-aways from The Game!

1. You can choose. You don't have to settle for what's handed to you by an accident of location or overwhelming tide of opinion around or against you. You can choose to break out of the box and do something that is good for you and makes you happy.

2. Stay cool, calm, and collected. When the going gets tough, just keep going! Don't display your fears or doubts.

3. Respect the process and your team. When you have a good system, just keep working it! Don't abandon what you and your team have practiced over and over again. Ups and downs go with the territory. Stay the course, don't yell, and trust that you'll get the job done.

4. Never give up. Even when it doesn't look promising, endure. You never know which play of the game will be your turning point. You can't tell when your inspiration will blossom to fulfillment.

5. Share the love. No one wins alone. Be eager to share your winning ways with others on the team. Working together makes it possible for all.

These lessons from the Super Bowl apply to football and every other life pursuit, especially including our collaboration here at WA. Let's go, team! We've got this!