What makes watching a sporting event exciting is that you have no idea what the end result is going to be. A baseball team can be down four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and hit five home runs for a miraculous win. A football team can march down the length of the field in less than a minute to score the winning touchdown. A tennis player can be down a match point, only to stage a miraculous comeback. On any given day, the worst team can beat the best team.
We love sports because they represent the best part of our lives: uncertainty, not knowing what will come next. Every decision, every dropped ball, strike and pass contributes to the final outcome. There's something magical about knowing that you're watching history unfold before your eyes.
Life is similarly at its best when we live it like a sporting event. We have to realize that almost nothing in our lives is certain. The top graduates of our class - the future presidents of the United States and the person who cures cancer - do not know today that they will accomplish these things. Nor do the people who hit a rough spell, drop out and struggle for the rest of their lives. Any one of us could live to the age of 100 or die tomorrow.
Sometimes, life feels choreographed. Even though you haven't seen the rest of the day yet, you think you know exactly what's going to happen. You'll wake up, go to classes, do some studying, hang out with friends, drink. The game of life becomes a routine.
I sometimes live my life as a machine. I go to bed at the same time, I wake up at the same time, I go to classes, I go out on the weekends. I like the feeling of sameness and safety. But sometimes, this has prevented me from taking chances and getting the most out of life.
Two months ago, I passed a girl in a blue jersey and a pair of eyes to die for at a desk at my summer office. I was going to say something, but I didn't. I didn't take the chance. I never really had a conversation with her, and I don't know her or who she is. And because I didn't take the chance, I'm safe, because I can stick to my routine and I don't get hurt.
Yet, these unexpected moments are what make college - and life - special. Years down the road, I will not remember the late nights I stayed up studying for my neuro exam or writing my history paper. I will not remember the drunken frat parties (especially a few of them). I will not remember the 9 a.m. lecture class at which I always fell asleep. The times I will remember are the tims when I took a risk to make my life unusual.
When you take chances, there will be failure. The kings of hitting homeruns were also the kings of striking out. But one of the biggest certainties in life is that you will never know unless you try. You can stick to the safeness of a predetermined route, or you can recognize that little in life is for certain and embrace this.
Life is not set in stone, and every move you make could change it. Especially if it feels uncomfortable and unnatural.
Two months ago, I passed a cute girl in a blue jersey and a pair of eyes to die for at a desk at my summer office, and I talked to her. It did not work out, and I got hurt. It would be easy for me to say that I wish I had never come to the plate in the first place. But unlike studying for exams, unlike going out partying every weekend, I will remember every moment of the experience. And I would have never known what would have happened if I didn't try.
I took a chance. I did the uncomfortable, I did something that didn't feel right. But I realize that every day, as I wake up, go to class or just hang out, I am making history. I am watching my own life unfold before your eyes. And no one knows what the score will be when the final whistle is blown.
A certain girl with eyes to die for placed a restraining order on Scott Warren '09 last weekend.
