{"id":15336,"date":"2024-09-11T15:31:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T20:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/?p=15336"},"modified":"2024-09-12T11:54:54","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T16:54:54","slug":"mastering-lifes-challenges-how-to-win-the-5-second-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/mastering-lifes-challenges-how-to-win-the-5-second-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering Life’s Challenges: How to Win the 5-Second Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ask Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer, who unexpectedly lost his beautiful wife to natural causes in 2009 at age 50, how to master challenges like the sudden death of a spouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Life
Cowboys Head Defensive Coach Mike Zimmer faces family losses\/Kevork Djansezian\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ask him how he coped when he got a phone call that his son and best friend, a talented NFL coach himself, was found dead on his couch alone in his apartment at age 38. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sudden death of a spouse or a child ranks number one as life’s most significant stressor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask Coach Zimmer how football, the game he loves, knows, and coaches is a metaphor for handling life’s toughest challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Catastrophe check 1: Focus on the present<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Dallas Morning News ran the riveting story of Mike Zimmer’s family losses on the first Sunday of the Fall football season 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read it three times, allowing the intensity to soak in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did he handle this? How would I handle this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same way he coaches his defensive line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men, you are facing a fierce opponent, but you are not playing them over one, two, three, or four quarters. You are playing a series of games that last only 5 seconds. Can you give me your best over 5 seconds?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life’s most brutal challenges<\/a> exist only in the moment we are in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each moment gives way to the next, holding the promise of . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n