Recently this strange picture of NFL QB Peyton Manning went viral:
What exactly is he doing? Why does he have only one ankle in a pool, and why is he wearing a helmet?
The answer speaks volumes, even to those of us who only dream of playing in the NFL.
For starters, Peyton Manning is the best at what he does.
He is a Super Bowl winner, and without question a first ballot Hall-of-Famer. He is an instantly recognizable “face of the League” to many, and represents all that is good about the NFL. In a league filled with controversies regarding player safety, criminal acts by players, cheating scandals, etc., he has consistently represented the positive ‘All-American’, ‘clean-cut’ side of football. He is a polite, humble, well-mannered guy who has consistently not only stayed out of trouble, but benefited many a worthy cause.
He is still at the top of his game after a neck injury that many thought would either end or severely impact his prolific career. Yet he has emerged in having what is perhaps his best year as a pro.
The point of saying all that is this – it didn't just happen that way. It took some serious effort and determination.
But back to that strange picture.
This photograph of Peyton Manning was taken during a Broncos practice. Having sustained an ankle injury, Peyton had to sit out of practice. His official listing was “did not participate”.
Unable to participate physically, he chose to participate mentally. He couldn't be on the field, but he could be active. He chose to keep his injured ankle in the “cold tub” in the team training room, and wear his helmet to listen in on practice and the plays that were called on the headset, while simultaneously studying game film on a tablet.
This is the guy who leads the league with 45 touchdowns. His team has the best record in the NFL (11-2). He has been a starting NFL QB since 1998.
These numbers didn’t come because he’s just ‘that good’. It appears to be because of his attitude, and using even down moments to improve his craft instead of resting on his laurels. This picture reflects a multi-tasking intensity that we could all apply to our life, whatever it is that we do. Do I pray with this determination? Do I apply it to my work or home life?
Embrace this intensity, and strive to be a better husband, a better parent, better employee, a better driver, a better writer, a better friend. The list is extensive and personal.
In education, we often speak of the desire to see students become “lifelong learners”. I think Peyton Manning in this candid moment is a perfect model of that. A guy who continues to perfect his craft and keep his mind sharp on a day he could easily just do nothing and still keep his job and still be one of the best. No one but him would really know the difference. Right?
So to answer the question, what is he doing?
He’s doing exactly what I should be doing.
As we enter 2015, I can’t help but reflect on 1915.
It was the year Alexander Graham Bell made a phone call from New York to his friend Thomas Watson in San Francisco, the first phone call across the continent.
It was the year Edward Stone became the first US soldier to die in WWI.
It was the year McCrae published In Flander's Fields.
It was the year war rose to a terrifying new level with the first use of poison gas.
It was the year the US National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was created. It was eventually renamed NASA.
It was the year the planet Pluto (or is it?) was photographed for the first time.
It was the year the Lusitania was sank by German submarine. 1,195 perished.
It was the year Woodrow Wilson became the first President to attend a World Series game
It was the year Henry Ford's assembly line manufactured the one millionth Model T.
It was the year Teddy Roosevelt criticized “hyphenated” Americans.
It as the year the Ku Klux Klan was chartered, and the year Jack Johnson was the first black world boxing champion.
Come to think of it, the world of 1915 is glaringly similar to the world we inherit in 2015.
The world of 1915 was a world at war. It was a world filled with mistrust between nations, stark political and cultural divisions at home and rising racial tensions and misunderstandings. But it was also a world brimming over with promising and innovative new technologies such as the automobile, air travel and voice communications that continue to define our lives a century later.
In 2015 we are presented with another New Year and another set of resolutions. We repeatedly slide into the last week of each year resolved that things will be different once the new calendar is hung.
Last year I made a resolution and this year I resolve to add to it.
Last year I resolved to read through the Bible in a year. A resolution I kept.
This year, I add to that by resolving to read one chapter of Proverbs a day each day of 2016. Earlier this year, my Pastor challenged our congregation to do just this, and I started to, but didn't stick with it.
This year I resolve to read a chapter of Proverbs faithfully each day, and I invite you to join me. It can only make us better, wiser, and less apt to repeat the mistakes of the past, but rather to chart a new course to better understand and respond to the maddening events that swirl around us.
I pray that this year my heart and mind will be filled with wisdom instead of rashness, patience instead of impulse, and forgiveness instead of bitterness. 2015 will hold it's own challenges, sure. But it can be our best year yet if we are willing to put in the effort. The history of 2015 is ours to write.
At least that's the way I see it...
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