I believe in goals.
When people think of goals, they think of targets or intentions, what they want to accomplish. They are usually school, family, or career related. I agree with them, but I see goals in a different way. To me, a goal is a ball hitting the net, rushing for a touchdown, or kicking a field goal. Those are goals to me.
There is no better feeling than reaching a goal. When I run down the field hockey field with the ball, take a powerful swing with my stick, and hit the ball into the net, for those two seconds, nothing else matters. Time stops. Everything is perfect. I have scored a goal. It is the most empowering feeling in the world. It feels almost like everything is right in the world for those two seconds. There is no happier moment because nothing else matters. It is just me, the ball, the stick, and the goal all interacting at the same time to accomplish the most important task at the moment, the goal.
When I am watching the game, watching the Giants are on the twenty-three yard line with eight seconds left, seeing Eli Manning stepping into the pocket launching one into the end zone to Plaxico Burress, and everyone yells “touchdown”, I can’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. For that one moment, everyone on the team is frozen in time because they are so happy; they have reached the goal. The men playing defense accomplished their goal by not letting anyone get to the quarterback, the other receivers have successfully distracted the opposing team by making them think the ball is going to one of the other receivers, the quarterback has thrown the perfect pass, and the intended receiver has made the perfect catch. The whole world, as the players know it, is in sync. They have all accomplished their individual goals and the team goal. I cry because I know how they feel. They feel the same way I do when I score a goal.
Maybe it is not the typical version of accomplishing a goal, but it gives the same sense of accomplishment. There are some goals that take lifetimes to accomplish, like becoming CEO of a big company or becoming the best ballerina in the world. Then there are the other goals, the goals I speak of, the goals where the ball just hits the stick at the exact right moment or where defense makes in hole in just the right spot to run through. These are my goals. Accomplishing these goals does not mean you are the best. In fact, you may be the worst, but for that one second, you feel like you are the best. For that one moment, any Joe Shmo feels like he is Tom Brady. That is what is so special about my goals. This I believe.