I confess, I get bored easily at sporting events. It’s probably because I either don’t know the rules, know the rules but get distracted and miss the good parts, or I just don’t care because  the outcome doesn’t matter to me.

Case in point, the Duke vs. Bucknell Lacrosse game I attended last Saturday.

I didn’t understand the rules of Lacrosse. I didn’t know anyone affiliated with either team, and frankly, most of the time I couldn’t even tell where the ball was.  If I looked through my lens, I could see it, but I still didn’t know what I was seeing.

Was it because of my vantage point high up in the stands?

Whose ball is it? And why does it look like six players from two different teams are all going after the Duke guy?

Or this….

I know this is called a “face-off” and I know the goal is for each player to pass the ball to his teammates, but the guy in the white shorts seems to work in opposition to that goal. He blows the whistle. A lot. Sometimes that causes the play to stop, and sometimes the players just ignore him and keep going. It’s all quite confusing. I don’t understand and I get bored.

So  I’ve learned to create a new sport of my own. I bring a camera and my goal is to capture players and their balls in mid-air. The better the action shot, the more points I get. Here’s my favorite sequence from the Duke Bucknell game:

I think in this case Bucknell scored. I can see the ball inside the net, which means I scored, too.

But I wonder, would I care more about what was happening on the field if I actually had some skin on it rather than sitting safely in the stands?  If I had been playing or my son had been playing I probably would have engaged more in the game, learned the rules, and perhaps even cheered.

Sometimes life is like a sporting event we don’t understand. We stay on the sidelines and give ourselves points for watching someone else toss the ball around. And I think that’s fine, for a time. You have to learn the rules, understand the goals, and figure out which strategies work.

But you can’t stay in the stands forever. If you’re sitting on the bleachers, looking through a lens at life, you may score points in your head, but they don’t end up on the scoreboard.

Put your camera down and get down to the field.

Yes, you may get hit by a ball,

or hit by the opposing team,

and maybe even knocked out of the game;

but at least your points will count.

And that could be a game changer.

What situations are you content to look at life through a lens keeping a safe distance between you and the real action? What would it take to get you into the game? And how would your life change if you were a part of the action?

I’m betting I’d never be bored again.

~Jennifer