Both my sons were active in sports as they were growing up, and it introduced me to a new world where I increased my vocabulary to include things like the finger roll and shake and bake. I also learned that the best defense is a good offense. This is true in American football, where a good offense pretty much means the defensive players have to do very little.
It is also true in life. I was thinking about a time almost twenty years ago, when a poor business decision my husband at the time and I made caused a chain reaction of some other stuff. It felt like there was some horrible surprise waiting for me around each corner, and instead of facing life with my usual confidence and optimism, I became quite pessimistic and defensive. The daily dread of what might happen next exhausted me, and for the first time in my life I began to suffer from insomnia.
I would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but awoke every morning sometime between 3 and 4 am and could not go back to sleep. Rather than tossing and turning, I would go downstairs and try to be quiet so I would not wake my husband or the boys. I would watch late night TV in an attempt to bore myself back to sleep. I would read dull books. This makes me giggle now, the idea that an author would write a book so boring an insomniac would be eager to read it. I hope no one reads my stuff in an attempt to lull themselves back to sleep.
It seemed there was something bad around every corner, and the driving force in my life was to keep my kids safe. I concentrated on my defense and ignored my offense. How different my life is now, where instead of being scared of what might be coming around the corner to get me, I actually walk around the corner myself and go after it.
Where I am I going with this? You know; I really have no idea. Maybe just to remind myself of how much better I like playing offense than defense.
I have been unable to determine for sure who actually said, "The best defense is a good offense." If you know, will you tell me so I can correctly credit that person?
Susan
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In a 1967 novel (or maybe the 1969 movie that was based on it), Elia Kazan attributed the saying to the boxer Jack Dempsey. But the concept, at least in its military sense, is very old: I found it mentioned by George Washington in 1799 ("Make them believe, that offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only ... means of defence"), and it wouldn't surprise me to find it similarly expressed centuries B.C. (This is from a Web search, by the way—I'm no reference genius, just good at searching, with an above-average feel for which sources ring true. Give me a few more minutes and I could probably find out what the finger roll and shake and bake are!)
ReplyDeleteBetter to be active and proactive than to be reactive and defensive, to be sure. I'm glad you're in a better place in your life now.
Wowzers, Kevan. I appreciate your doing some searching. The finger roll is not sushi and the shake and bake is not for chicken. Hahahah! I made myself laugh.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by, and as always, for the encouragement.