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I remember when the late actor Christopher Reeve was thrown from a horse some twenty years ago and was paralyzed from the neck down.
I remember being sad for him. After all, his life had gone off a cliff in the blink of an eye...it would never be the same.
I remember wondering how he would work, how he would function in the life pursuits he had doggedly chased up until that time.
I remember thinking that I was witnessing a successful and lucrative acting career go by the boards.
Then, a couple of years later, I saw him on TV interviewed by Diane Sawyer. She asked this question: "What is the first thing that crossed your mind when you realized that you were a quadriplegic?"
And I listened for his answer...
There was nothing about acting or directing or limited roles. Nothing about his career at all.
His response?
"I realized," he struggled to say, "I would never be able to hug my son again." And it was true-without the use of his arms he could hug no one.
I focused on the trivial...Christopher Reeve had found the significant.
I wonder what Jim Kelly has at the top of his mind right now. Kelly was the Hall of Fame quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. He led them to four straight Super Bowls...four Super Bowls they lost.
In 1990 they lost to the New York Giants 20-19 when, with 8 seconds left, Buffalo's Scott Norwood missed a 47 yard field goal a couple of feet to the right.
In 1991 they lost to the Washington Redskins 37-24 when the Bills' star running back, Thurman Thomas, couldn't find his helmet and had to sit out the first two plays of the game. Afterward, he and they became the butt of jokes nationwide.
The next year, 1992, was worse. The Bills committed nine turnovers and were blown out by the Dallas Cowboys 52-17.
Finally, in 1993, the Bills led at halftime, but ended up losing again to the Cowboys 30-13.
Jim Kelly was a great quarterback and a great competitor. The losses stung. How could they not?
But I wonder what the fifty-four year old Jim Kelly is thinking about now. Last year he was diagnosed with oral cancer and fought it off. Now it's back.
I wonder what he's thinking.
Last week he completed his first round of chemo and will have two more in the coming weeks along with daily radiation treatments.
Do you think he loses sleep over Super Bowls lost these days? Do you think he wrestles with being the butt of unending jokes about his team's futility? Do you think he spends days agonizing over Scott Norwood's field goal slipping just to the right?
I think not.
Actually, if he was obsessing over those Super Bowls lost, that probably ended in 2005 when he lost something much greater. That is the year his eight year old son died of a nervous system disease he was born with.
Leaders: Indeed, compete and work hard.
But-it seems an obvious truth yet escapes us so easily-a satisfying and rich life is one that prioritizes the significant.
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