Being Tim Tebow

by Maria Geraci

Okay, so first off, don’t run. This isn’t going to be a blog about football or Christianity. This  is going to be a blog about inspiration. Something I seek desperately every day to get the thousands (seemingly) of things done I need to get done in my multiple jobs as author, small business owner (because let’s face it, every author today is their own business,) nurse, mother, wife, and all around everything-else-I’ve-promised-to-be-to-everyone-else.

 Some days, my Catholic guilt really gets to me because on most days I think I really suck at doing it all. And it’s on some of those days that I sometimes just give up and think, “If I can’t do it all, then I might as well not do anything at all.”

Those are the days I throw in the towel and flop on the couch with a tub of ice-cream to catch up on episodes of Breaking Bad (OMG, that’s another blog entirely). But this sort of pity party only leads to more feelings of inadequacy with the only benefit being that I’m really glad I’m not in the business of cooking crystal meth.

But I digress.

So recently while in the aftermath of one of those pity parties, I opened up my computer to find that Tim Tebow had been cut from the New England Patriots. No big surprise there. The guy has been floundering in the NFL. I was never a college fan of Tebow’s. He was the quarterback for the Florida Gators and being that I’m a die-hard Florida State fan, he was naturally, an enemy to my state. But once Tebow graduated college and went pro I wished him nothing but luck. He seemed like a nice guy and in NFL football these days, nice guys are hard to find.

Soon after the announcement from the Patriots, dozens of sports reporters began speculating on Tebow’s future. Despite the fact that he was a Heisman Trophy winner and a star quarterback who led his team to a National Championship, he had “never been” NFL material. His style of football wasn’t for the NFL. He wasn’t good enough to be in the pros. Team after team tried him out, only to cut him in the end. But hey, the reporters said, Tebow is still a gold mine. He could make millions in other sports, like arena football, or NASCAR (yep, I actually read an article about that) or more likely as a motivational speaker. After all, his book was a national best seller. I still remember the lines of people standing outside Barnes & Noble waiting to get their copy.

This was Tim Tebow’s response to being cut by the Patriots. “I will remain in relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback.” He also included some really nice stuff about the New England organization, thanking them for the opportunity they’d given him, etc…

I have to say at first, I shook my head. “Why doesn’t he just give up?” “Why doesn’t he take the countless other opportunities that are flying his way?”

Because those aren’t Tim Tebow’s dream. He stated his dream clearly. And frankly, I have to admire the guy. There is something so powerful about seeing someone struggle to achieve something that maybe they never will, but continuing on nonetheless. I really hope Tebow doesn’t succumb to the pressure to give up. I hope he knows he’s inspiring a lot of people out there.

My new mantra? “I will remain in relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being a full-time writer.”

There. I said it.

Thanks, Tim Tebow. Thank you for the inspiration.

Time to get off the couch and back to the computer.