©As a child playing football with my friends was one of my favorite things to do. No matter if it was in-season or offseason, the playground across the street from my home always had something football-related going on. One day we might be out there playing kill the man with the ball. Another day we would be out running routes while claiming to be our favorite receiver. Then there were those days when we actually picked teams, lined up and played a game. And let me tell you those games were not just games…they were wars.

One Saturday afternoon sticks out in my mind as both sides were giving as good as they got. There were a lot of hard hits, a lot of trash talking and a ton of big plays…and I was involved in one. The older boys in the neighborhood acted as our coaches and after each play they huddled us up to design and run another. After one play that went absolutely nowhere, we huddled and “Coach” went around and gave us each our assignment. He told me to split wide to the right, run a streak as fast as I could and the ball would be there.

The ball was hiked and I set out running my fastest. I looked over my left shoulder and here came that ball just like “Coach” said. But the more I looked back the more I began to realize I might not be fast enough to catch it. I was pumping my little 11 year old arms and digging in with my little 11 year old legs the best I could, giving serious chase but I was worried. “Coach” was too; so he screamed the one word that made all the difference.

“Dive”!

I heard it, did it, caught it and scored. Touchdown!

**

Everybody is chasing something and no matter what it is rest assured it is within your reach. But sometimes we miss out on catching it because we fail to realize that in order to do so; we’re going to have to give a little more.

We give chase, running as fast as we can pumping our arms and grinding our legs but when it becomes obvious that we aren’t fast enough, we quit.

Oh, but if we had just been willing to dive. If we had just been willing to dive…If we had just been willing to dive, we would have gotten that job. If we had just been willing to dive, we would still be in business. If we had just been willing to dive, she or he and we would have stayed put. Oh, if we had just been willing to dive…

The next time you feel yourself chasing something that seems to be getting away from you; chasing something you know was meant for you, remember why you began running in the first place. Keep chasing it and when it seems as though you have truly given it all you have to give, instead of quitting…

Dive!

It will make all the difference…