By Steve Gahagen

If you have a competitive bone in your body, you never liked sitting on the bench. You don’t have to be athletic to be competitive, however. Some people are competitive at board games or work, or even with themselves, constantly measuring their personal bests.

My family pooled their resources together at Christmas in 2018 to give me an Apple Watch. It sat on the counter for a month before I decided to give it a try. I was not sure I wanted to be managing one more device. But, once I figured it out, I quickly fell in love with it. It kept score every day for me - mapping my workouts, calories spent, and heart rate. I was even able to use it while swimming so that I no longer had to count laps. My head space was now freed up to think.

I became so attached to the watch that when the the battery died or I forgot to bring it to the gym, I contemplated whether it still made sense to work out. I couldn’t keep score. Did the workout count if I couldn’t track it on my watch? Each time I still worked out, but it crossed my mind.

There are moments you know you have something to bring and if you brought it, the world or someone’s life could be better for it. You do not have to be competitive to know that. It might be an idea at work that could make your team more effective or improve customer service.

Michael Jordon wanted to be taking the shot whenever the game was up for grabs. We know that a competitive person wants to be in when the game is on the line. But to some extent, isn’t that true of all of us? We all want our lives to count - we all have something to bring. Fear may keep us on the sideline, but deep inside we all want to be playing when the game is on the line. Being in the game doesn’t mean we will always make the winning shot, but at least we dared to try.

It is intriguing that in our culture many of us, as we age, essentially volunteer to sit on the bench, endlessly entertaining ourselves when the world needs us to get in the game. There are a lot of talented and gifted people sitting on the bench, or even in the stands, because we have accepted a cultural lie that after we reach a certain age, we deserve to sit in the stands. In fact, our final season could be the greatest season of our lives.

Witnessing the struggles of young people related to social and emotional well-being and the epidemic of suicide reminds me of how much we need everyone in the game.

Questions to Consider:

1. Think of a time when a game or life situation was critical and you couldn’t stand on the sidelines but had to get in the game. Share your story with someone.

2. Think of someone you admire who is willing to use their talents and get in the game.

3. What talents do you have that could make a difference in the lives of others? How are you using them to make a difference in others?