Killing the Quarterback

Up until two years ago, I was not much into spectator sports.  In school, I never anticipated the weekly football games.  I had never been asked out to homecoming and never cared that no one took interest in me enough to buy me a corsage and all that jazz.  Fast forward to 2012 and I started dating the biggest football fan, if there even is such a thing.  He warned me that football was a huge part of his life.  With each favorable play and win, he’s the loudest, and with each loss and when football season is over, he is the most depressed.  For someone like me, this is absurd.  I’m a thinker and mostly enjoy finding meaning in life in the greater recesses of my brain, where others cannot manipulate my thought processes.  My world was rocked upon choosing to date a football fanatic.  He is a tactical learner and finds the most enjoyment out of life in this way.  For someone like him, life is too short to think it to death.  His hands on approach, leaves worrying about the day to day upon each action that comes his way.  He understands strategy, but understands testing it out with action.  So for him, life is played out, much like a football game.

We can learn a lot by understanding the dynamics of football.  When applied to our regard for our bodies, strategy is as important as the actual plays.  Many of us begin to take care of our bodies when the doctor tells us the years of neglect are killing us or we are tired of looking in the mirror in disgust.  We know it’s now or never.  This is our forth and one.  The last chance might be successful, but then again perhaps not.  We’ve had many years and much wisdom thrown our way, but the distractions of tv and food got the better of us.  In football, distractions abound.  That’s why players are coached in what opposing players they should stay on.  If they don’t stay on the right man, a vital play is killed.  And if this continues, you, like the football player, get to forth and one with a slackened morale.

An advantage of playing on the home field is the twelfth man.  This is a reference to the fans.  We can go a long way with our loved ones cheering us on.  It helps to keep the mind focused and instead of shaping up (or playing the game) for only ourselves, we now have others we don’t want to let down.  This is good, but we can’t depend on the twelfth man.  He’s there for moral support, but he’s not a constant.  We need consistency in our work-out routine and eating habits in order to make progress.  This is a given; we all know this, but the difference in learning styles really comes to play here.  Those tactile learners adapt easily to working out, because that is how they learn and find satisfaction in life- by moving.  However, for other types of learners, constantly moving snuffs their thinking processes.  So consistently moving is a real challenge.  They are more likely to depend on the twelfth man.  They over think and wait for help.

One thing that should not happen, but does occasionally is a blitz.  Killing the quarterback is detrimental to the game.  The team doesn’t want the quarterback hurt!  People that aren’t tactile learners should view their lives in this way.  Understand the value of who you are and don’t allow things that trip you up to keep you down.  Take care, or there is no you to care of your loved ones.  Don’t kill the quarterback!

Tactile learners, although enjoy movement, can learn from football too instead of just enjoying it.  They are more apt to keep the ball.  They play an audible often when it’s too late or when years of improper use of the body has finally taken its toll.  They may be laborers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they understand body mechanics.  Incorrect use of joints will eventually induce these hard workers with pain so severe that they become immobile.  In football a quarterback keeper is a strategy used when the quarterback does not have a chance at throwing the ball.  Instead, he keeps it and runs the play himself.  When used properly, it is a good play, but it is not seen regularly.  The tactile learner would do well to understand that knowledge of others is as vital to his well-being as is his body in motion. 

And then there’s the fumble.  Routines and goals are tripped up by overthinking, procrastination, and setbacks out of one’s control.  The thinker needs an audible, or plan b.  This is where their overthinking becomes an advantage.  In the planning process develop a plan b, and that way when a fumble occurs, a way out of the disadvantage is manageable.  In this way, getting your health back is lot like playing football.

For any type of learner, the strong side/weak side knowledge is invaluable.  If you know what your strength and weaknesses are, you are better prepared for setbacks.  You know how to prevent a forth and one, when to utilize the twelfth man, when to play a quarterback keeper, and how to protect yourself from blitzes.  Regardless of your stage in health, strategy should be number one on the list to maintaining good health.  Doing and thinking it out are both effective components of whole health, but they overlap and require equal attention.

I’m not a football fanatic, nor do I believe I ever will be.  But I have learned that I can analyze just about anything, including football.  I’ve also learned to just enjoy the sport for what it is.  By applying truths I deem important into the game and exercising teachable moments recognized each Sunday during football season, I am finding a system that works for me.  In this system, nothing is compartmentalized.  Everything is learned together, all at once.  I kept my loud man for better or worse.  He won’t make me into a loudmouth, but he will protect me.  And I won’t keep him quiet, but I can gently put him at ease.  I married my opposite, but we make a great team.  Killing the quarterback is not an option for us.  Geaux Saints!