@bethvogt

I like to watch pro football.

This is not a surprise for many of you.

I’m a loyal fan to the Broncos despite years – yes, years – of disappointment. But this blog post is not about being a frustrated Broncos fan.

As I worked on my social media for this week, I listened to the pregame show for Sunday Night Football. *SPOILER ALERT* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Green Bay Packers. During an interview, Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs quarterback, said “It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.”

 A little context for any non-football fans: Mahomes, who is 26 years old, has taken the Chiefs to the Super Bowl the past two years – his first two years with the team. This year, though, he and the team are struggling. Mahomes is facing not one, but two questions:

1. What’s wrong with the Chiefs?
2. What’s wrong with Patrick Mahomes?

Once a winner, always a winner, right?

Nope.

 When I first heard Mahome’s say, “It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish,” I agreed. Good words. But the longer I ponder what he said, the more I go back and forth – sometimes agreeing with him, sometimes disagreeing.

How we start does matter. After all, we have no story without a beginning. Did we have to fight through adversity and find victory against the odds? Are we one of the “overnight successes” that took twenty years? Did success welcome us with awards and accolades?

I also understand why Mahomes said finishing matters more than how we started. With fans and media judging his (under)performance, he’s saying, “Don’t judge me now. I’m not defined by what’s happening. We may have lost some games, but I’m not quitting – and I intend to win the season.”

Of course, sports can be an analogy for life.

“It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.”

I like how Mahomes’ perspective provides us with hope – with not just a second chance, but all the chances we need to keep going no matter how many times we miss whatever mark we’re aiming for.

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett, (1906-1989), Irish writer

Which matters more: how we start or how we finish?

Unpacking Christmas, my Thatcher Sisters Christmas novella, is on tour with Celebrate Lit! Check out the fun giveaway for a chance to win 4 of my books (to keep for yourself or to give as gifts!), as well as a $50 Amazon gift gift card! How’s that for some fa-la-la-la fun? You can enter the giveaway here.