When life benches you, you don't have to sit the bench

​I was watching Notre Dame take on Virginia Tech in a hard fought football game Saturday night. Notre Dame's starting quarterback, Jack Coan, got off to a rough start, and the coached benched him.

In that moment, Coan had a choice. Do I go sit on that bench, or do I keep my head in the game? Do I wallow in my disappointment and anger and frustration, or do I focus on the opportunity my team still has to win the game?

Lucky for us Irish fans, Coan took the positive route. He stood on the sideline cheering for the kid who replaced him. He cheered for ALL of his teammates. Lucky for us Irish fans, Coan remembered that football is a we thing, not a me thing.

Lucky, because when the kid who replaced him started making his own critical mistakes, Coan got the call to go back in. And when he did, he led the Irish on two straight scoring drives that ultimately won them the game.

While Coan was benched, he wasn't physically in the game - but he kept his head in the game.

There's a lesson there for me. Because life benches me sometimes. There are days life doesn't go my way - there are days I don't do life well enough to MAKE it go my way - and I get benched.

In those moments, I have a choice. Go sit on that bench and mourn me, or keep my head in the game and celebrate opportunity. When life benches us, the possibilities in that specific moment may be done, but the opportunities in the greater picture of life are only beginning.

Jack Coan showed us the power of the mind. As long as we keep our head in the game we are always IN the game. Coan took a punch but decided there was no way in hell he was knocked out. Coan took one punch but decided my fight is far from over.

Because when Jack Coan got another chance to fight, a fighter came in. Not a guy who'd been wallowing in self pitty on the bench.

I'll tell you who respects that guy the most - his teammates. And not because he led them to victory. They respect him because they all know better than anyone how mentally tough that dude had to be to do what he did. They know what it took to say 'let's go team' instead of 'whoa is me.'

Life may bench you this week, but you don't have to sit on that bench. Life may end the possibilities in a moment this week, but only you decide if the opportunties in life have ended.

Life may try to take you out of the game this week, but don't let it. Keep your head in the game.

Life IS going to give you another chance. I promise. Make sure you're standing on the sidelines ready and eager to hear the call when it does, not sitting on the sidelines moping.

Make sure when it's your turn to re-enter the game, it's a fighter who goes in. Make sure it's someone who plays like they knew all along the game was far from over.

Because the game is ALWAYS far from over.