Who is on your team?

I started this post before World Cup madness ensued....I gave it a title and I am not even sure what I meant to write about....I saved it as a draft and walked away.

Here I am and the topic has actually been on my mind since Tuesday.

Full disclosure -- I really don't know anything about sports and won't pretend that I do.

Back story: Forrest and I were planning to see "The Fault In Our Stars" until we remembered that it was the USA/Belgium game at the same time.

Quick change of plans and we met at Eureka at UTC instead of Arclight.  Forrest and I and about 100 of our closest friends stared at the TV for a crazy 90 minutes and then more, watching Tim Howard throw himself in front of shot after shot.

We made friends with Kevin and Dave and marveled at the many cute men on their "lunch breaks".

I'm pretty sure that none of my previous jobs even would have allowed for day drinking and an over 2 hour break, but hey -- it's only every 4 years!

Let's be honest -- way more fun than a sad movie about kids with cancer was ever going to be even though we both loved the book and are dying to see it on screen.

Again, I really can't claim to know anything about sports and I am convinced Argentina is going to win because of the Pope.

But I do know this -- don't we all need a Tim Howard on our team?
Man, talk about bravery, grit, and let's face it....balls.
Save after save after save, a record number of them in fact, I marveled at how he, literally and figuratively, put himself out there.

It made me pause and think -- what if we all showed up for life like that? Fearlessly, bravely?
What if we were that fiercely alive and that much "in the game"?

I am the first to admit this -- I love to be there for people, be on "their team", but I am no Tim Howard.

That is a kind of bravery I know nothing about.

I walked away thinking about how areas of my life where I need to be braver, ways where I can work harder to make an impact on people around me.

We all can't be Tim Howard, but we can show up for the game and put ourselves out there.
And when we lose, we can do it with class and grace.
And when we fall, we can get back up -- again and again and again.

And when we pick a team, we can surround ourselves with others who will show up for us and show up for themselves.

Who will encourage us, push us, and be there for us -- win or lose.

Next time you watch World Cup, or any other sport, ask yourself -- am I showing up for the game? Who is on my team -- or who should be?

Put yourself out there and be brave.  Win or lose, it's better to be in the game than on the bench.