This post is part of my book Conspire To Inspire: Everything Is Awesome When You Are Part Of A Team

Michael Paine @strangerarray

Copyright © 2015 Michael Paine

9 THEODORE ROOSEVELT

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Although there have been several great men who have graced the office of President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt is my favorite. Hands down. This might be because I have read the most about him. And by him. Mostly because I have actually read multiple things written by Theodore himself. He has a great story. He was full of life. And greatly influential.

Besides being the 26th President (1901-1909), Roosevelt was before that Vice President (March 4, 1901 – September 14, 1901), before that the 33rd Governor of New York (1899-1900), and before that Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1897-1898). Roosevelt is one of only four presidents to have his face on Mount Rushmore. Alongside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.

Roosevelt not only helped form the Rough Riders but also wrote the book on them. Beyond reading this work of his, I have also read his essays and addresses complied under the title The Strenuous Life. This title is from a speech he gave before the Hamilton Club in Chicago on April 10th, 1899.

And it is packed full of inspiration.

Not too far into it Theodore says, “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”(Roosevelt, Theodore. The Strenuous Life: Essays And Addresses.) I think we take it for granted to often in life that we are “trying to succeed”. Of course we want success. But what are we doing to get it? Are we willing to be uncomfortable? To do something different? To change ourselves? Change our ways of thinking? Change our habits? Or do we just go about our days trying not to fail?

I have recently become a football fan (again-ish).

Growing up in the 90’s I remember watching Monday Night Football with my dad. I would get excited when I heard Hank Williams, Jr. singing about all his rowdy friends (even though I didn’t really understand the implications of what that meant). It was a special time in the Dallas Cowboys franchise. They of course won the 1992 and 1993 Super Bowls back-to-back and then came back again in 1995 to win a third within four seasons. They had Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and my favorite, Emmitt Smith.

At some point in my childhood, probably the 1996 season when the Cowboys were not Super Bowl Champions again, I lost interest in football. In elementary school we would play two-hand touch during recess. I remember being picked last several times (and last in basketball too). It was more about my physic than anything else. I was pretty much the shortest guy out there. But I was fast. I suppose once football became a thing in middle school and I wasn’t in, so I was out.

Growing up in the world of middle America suburbia in Texas, I began to notice that football was really important to just about almost everyone. Or at least it seemed that way. I never even tried out for the middle school team. I think it was because I was too afraid of having to take a shower in the locker room at school.

I was not a big guy. I did not have a lot of self-confidence.
As the years went by, I became more cynical of the football culture. Cynical of kids getting passing grades in high school so they could be eligible for the game that Friday night. I was cynical of much more of course. I just did not connect with the football world. The school forced us to go to pep rallies to cheer on people I did not know. People I thought I didn’t like. Plus where was the pep rally for nerds like me who were part of the Mu Alpha Theta or English Honor Society?

Fast-forward about a decade and now things are a bit different.

One major thing that changed in my life is I have become a Christian. Now I’m not going to go into the whole Christian and Football cultural thing that goes on. Why? Because my main point is that being a Christian my focus now is on Christ and I am not so concerned with just about anything else. I am no longer cynical about football, nor am I so jaded about the rest of our cultural short comings.

Before I came to Christ, I was skeptical about the church and religion and all it entailed. I let other people’s problems, shortcoming, and sins sway me from having a true relationship with Jesus. I had thought that the church had let me down. I had thought my parents had let me down.** I had everyone else to blame but myself.** And then by the grace of God I learned one day that I can’t let hang-ups like that stand between me and Him. It is not God who failed me. It was the imperfection of a struggling world that was bringing me down. Christ saved me from myself and gave me a rebirth into a second chance at life.
So when you see a church with people in it who are not as perfect as you think they should be, remember that the church is where broken people go to get healing. We don’t (or shouldn’t) turn away sinners. But instead welcome them and allow God to change them. Jesus went to where people were and ate with sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors. He was not ashamed to go to the lost and not afraid what people said about him when he did. Oh to be more like Christ.

I say all that to say this:

When watching football I notice that most all teams punt on fourth down. If I were a coach I would go for it. I know that there is a long term strategy to the game. However, any time I see them punt it I get the sense that they are playing not to lose.

When you go for it on fourth down you are playing to win!

I want to live my life in a “play it to win” mentality. I have spent too many years wasted on playing not to lose. And guess what? I didn't lose (yet...). But I didn't win either. I have not been happy, or successful, or creative living a life of hedging my bets and worrying about the future.