Soccer, Scoring, and Being Already Caught Up

Mobile: New Moon

On being enough

“But I have so much left to do,” explained mouse.

“Perhaps, you do.” replied bear. “But who you are is never about how much you do.”

Thoughts while making
I started playing soccer when I was seven. The Rockets were my team. Eileen was my coach.

I proudly wore my blue and gold uniform with a collared shirt tucked too far into my little yellow shorts. The ones with that odd seam right down the middle.

I scored a lot of goals. And I had a lot of fun.

As I got better over the years, I eventually played for a AAA traveling team. And, even though I was told I was good, I never felt like I could quite catch up with what was expected of me.

If I scored a goal, I heard the coach yell, “Okay, Mark, let’s get another one!”

So, before the ball was even hitting the back of the net, I was already feeling the pressure to score again; already feeling behind again; never feeling that what I’d already done was good or enough.

This feeling of never being caught up has lived alongside me in school, in work, with my sense of where I am on my life path.

“When I just meditate more or do morning pages or eat healthier or organize this or get ahead on that,” I say, “then all will be right.”

Can you relate?

Recently, my counselor (shout out to #menshealthawarenessmonth) gently challenged me, asking me to consider the idea that – rather than being in an endless repeating loop of needing to catch up – I reframe the paradigm with the notion that I already am caught up.

What an idea, right? Especially as we head into the holidays with all their rushing around and trying to squeeze so much into so little.

So, perhaps consider the idea that you are living a life right now where – wherever you find yourself – you are already caught up, already enough, already good, and have already scored.