Who will take the big shot?
My sons have been gifted to play soccer — one area my oldest excels at is taking long-range, powerful free kicks. The ball could be 30 yards away from goal and he’d have the boldness to take the shot.
Here’s the thing…my son can score from 30 yards out. Think a Steph Curry pull-up from 15 feet behind the 3 point arc — it’s his moonshot.
Some tell him to “play the short option”. Stated differently, “play the SAFE option”. Indeed, there are times he should play the short, safe option, but I want him to be confident enough to take good risks. Don’t always play it safe.
The first moon landing still fascinates me. Don’t you wonder what JFK’s supporters were thinking when he made this a stated goal? EVERYTHING needed to accomplish this engineering marvel did NOT exist. Space suits, rockets, computers all needed inventing. JFK’s audacious statement ushered an era of technological marvels.
Isn’t that more of what we crave for our world? Couldn’t we use more “moonshots” to propel our country forward towards a better future?
Recently a biker group near us noticed there were lots of kids in the projects who didn’t have enough to eat. So this group of Harley-riding, God-fearing folks joined forces with our tiny church to pack lunches for the kids in the slums. They took a risk, not knowing if anyone would show up for the free food.
Guess what, kids did show up — 75 at first, motivating them to take another risk. They chose to provide lunches once a month all year long.
Now this small group of 10–15 people from all walks of life (ethnicities, political affiliations, white collar, blue collar) will hand out 300 lunches each month. This means 3,600 lunches are given each year to kids who desperately needed someone to take a risk and demonstrate that someone cares for them with NO strings attached.
Where do we need to take a moonshot?
Maybe it’s NOT giving up on the strained relationship and giving it yet another try.
What about learning to listen and being fully present with someone?
Could it be buying coffee for the police officer or haggled mom ahead of me in line?
When will we take that shot?
Once the kids are out of the house and all my bills paid?
After I figure out all the possible downsides?
What’s the cost of NOT taking moonshots?
Won’t the world miss out on your best self?
Will a poor kid miss a meal?
Won’t we still learn and grow, even if we “fail”?
