A Super Bowl loss is not a matter of life or death
It may feel like that, but it’s really not. Win, Lose or Draw, it’s (only) a Game – Not a Matter of Life or Death – by Dietrich Gruen (Hospice Chaplain).
Dietrich Gruen, the author of the attached article, is a Green Bay Packers fan. My team, the Seattle Seahawks, beat his team in the game he references in his attached article. When I’m on the receiving end of a victory, I’m always cognizant of the fact that when I’m celebrating a win, there are those who are bemoaning a loss.
Well, let me tell you, the football field is a great equalizer, as was evident yesterday when the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl to the New England Patriots. It was a devastating loss, but it was not life-changing.
Sure, it may change some aspects of some of the Seattle team members’ lives, but it won’t alter what is truly valuable: life itself. With several hours separation between Seattle’s shocking loss and now, I’m able to re-categorize that loss as a speed bump. In time, both the players and their fans will readjust their emotions and be able to take pride in the fact that they played in the Super Bowl two years in a row, an opportunity 31 other teams did not have this season.
Mr. Gruen points out that there are events in our lives that can be changed, and there are those that can not. The Packers and the Seahawks can try again next year, but many people with monumental health challenges don’t have that option. Reality dictates that while my husband and I went through the sturm und drang of the last game of the 2014-2015 football season, there were others who were experiencing a true life or death situation. The last thing on their minds was a sports match in Glendale, Arizona. (See Caregiving and the Super Bowl)
When you approach Life’s final deadline neither you nor your loved ones will be concerned about Super Bowl outcomes. Mundane dilemmas such as costly household repairs, employment challenges, and bumper to bumper traffic won’t even be on your radar. Why? Because none of those matter when a life hangs in the balance.
It’s okay to mourn the loss of a football game – believe me I have – but it’s not okay to lose sight of what is truly valuable about the very temporary place-holder in this world called life.
Living: the ultimate team sport 
February 2, 2015 at 4:20 pm
It was a heartbreaking loss, but there is always next year. Sports are played for our entertainment, not to steal our joy.
LikeLike
February 2, 2015 at 6:14 pm
I absolutely agree with your sentiment that sports do not exist to steal our joy. There are so many elements of our lives that are bonuses. Sports is one of those.
LikeLiked by 1 person