Marriage Is Like Football

As I watched the final game of the season, my beloved Steelers giving the championship away (2 ints, and a fumble are truly gifts), I began to reflect on what the players go through every year to get ready. In the midst of my reflection I received a text from a close friend about how she desired to be married one day. It was not the first time I had heard people say such things but it created a melding of two thoughts in my head that I probably would not have conjured up on my own. Epiphany. The quest for marriage is like football.

Marriage is typically NOT the fairytale that many envision. Is is also NOT for the faint of heart. To be, and stay married one has to be mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally tough as nails. And prepare, prepare, prepare. Constant On-The-Job training.

Training? Hmmmm.

Being single is comparable to off season workouts and training camps. You are molding yourself into a player that is ready for the actual season. Not just to play, but to play great. If you desire to be a husband or wife, then you should be training to be such. Physically becoming what is required. Mentally studying what a husband or wife should do. Spiritual strength training to assist in overcoming adversity. Emotional core training because for every super high, there is a super low. Many folks miss the off season workouts and training camps in their single life, then wonder why they never get picked up by a winning team. Hmmmmm.

Exchanging numbers or initial interest is like being scouted. The first phone call is similar to being signed to a 30-day contract. Then the first few dates before being exclusive would be the pre-season. All in preparation for the regular season (relationship), and the ultimate goals - playoffs (engagement) and Super Bowl (marriage).

How much prep work do most singles perform? How many are really ready for the pre-season? How many will truly know what it takes to be successful. Let me expound further.

So now that you are in the regular season with a legitimate contract (relationship) you are hoping that your preseason game-plan is sufficient. Is your on-field communication effective? How is your teamwork? Did you prepare well enough in the off-season (single) to endure this journey? Is the 'on-field' chemistry good enough? There will be victories along the way and there will also be loses. Moments where you (or your partner) will be GREAT in victory and humbled by defeat. Your opposition....the trials of life that challenge your relationship or put in in jeopardy of being torn apart. But the true testament will be.....playing hurt or injured.

Our first true variance. In football it is the physical injuries that will sideline you or make it tough to play at a high level. In a relationship, it is the emotional or mental injuries that threaten you. This is where your off season emotional core training and mental study should kick in. Can you play/function through dishonesty, financial discrepancy, sexual issues, family concerns, kids, personal demons from past relationships, or loss of trust? Most football players are so committed that they play through pain and hurt, and so do those who see the greater good or the ultimate goal of a relationship. Just as football players, they know that there is a possibility of getting hurt. But they go anyway, because they know the beauty of winning outweighs the regret of not being in the game at all. "Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Just as many players never make it to the super bowl, season after long season...there are people who never get married, relationship after tiring relationship. But they press on, praying and hoping that their preparation and experience is enough to get them "over the hump" and into the next level.

This is the inverted part of my analogy. The hope is that YOUR Super Bowl last longer than ALL of your pre-seasons and regular seasons. That your years in the League of Life, training, adversity, and accomplishments have prepared you for the Marriage Super Bowl. The moments that last after the lavish wedding and romantic honeymoon have turned into a distant fond memory and a dusty box of your new beginning. Where you can look back over the years and be proud of how your Marriage Super Bowl has gone. And since Marriage is for life (It actually is supposed to be folks) the goal is to be..........VICTORIOUS.

 

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