Keep your eyes on the prize

     I went to the BC men's and women's basketball games last night as they took on Graceland University. Kudos to the women for getting revenge from last year's HAAC playoffs, and to the men for winning in overtime. As I was watching the game, the "coaching bone" became active in me. I wanted all of the BC possessions to result in points, so when we didn't score, I was expressing disappointment that we didn't get points. My friend sitting next to me pointed out that not every offensive possession was going to result in a score (as a football coach, I certainly realize this in my own game). I responded "just because you won't score every time doesn't mean you don't aim to score every time you get the ball."
     Every time our offense gets the ball in the football games, I have the belief that "these guys are going to march to the end zone and score." And realistically, I know that we will not score every time. But if our team had the mentality that we would only score some of the time, it wouldn't surprise me if we didn't score at all in a game. The first thing our offense does before going on the field is tell each other "Let's go score!". The same holds true for all of us in life.
When we do something in life, we have some kind of goal when we set out to do whatever it is. Sometimes the goal may be set by others, other times we set the goal ourselves. When we go to school, our goals may be to get a degree and make lifelong friends. We play a game to be better at that game, and to win. We go to church to make stronger our faith (I hope you don't think it's because you have to).
When you set out to accomplish something from now on, make a conscious effort to know what your goal is. In order to succeed, we have to keep your eyes on the prize. If you don't know why you are doing something, or why you are somewhere, or why you work at some place, maybe it's time to re-assess and self-reflect. On a closing. Ote, set your goals high, because no one rises to low expectations.