The perks of being a Goalkeeper!

I feel like a goalie right now.

I have had the whole day to reflect on my actions and some of the goals I had hoped to achieve by the end of the day. It's been a chore, but in a way...it reminded me of something. Arsenal won their first cup in nine years! Epic, right?

Well, not so epic because my friend Grace- called to gloat, because she knows I like Manchester United. So, here's what happened.

I met with Grace, she is finally getting married to Joseph and all they can do is talk babies and holidays. I was happy for her, until she started going on about how #MUFC sucked this season- and laughing at her hubby to be because he was a supporter. It went on for 10 minutes. I never let stupidity reign supreme for more than 5 minutes but I had to let Grace rant because she happens to the one Arsenal supporter who does not know more than 5 team players and doesn't agree with me that Ozil has teddy-bear eyes!

(Cute, right? Yeah, just look at those big googly eyes!)

But that's not it. I realized that we share three things in common with Joseph: #MUFC, coffee and we both use litter bins. Yes, Joseph does not litter! (Hooray for Grace! Her house and compound will be clean)

So, what's it about being a goalie. I watched replays of some games on YouTube to get the gist of this post, and it hit me how tough a goalie's job is.

Every mistake you make counts!

The goalie is the last man in the team. He can make many saves during a game, but if he misses once- that could lose his team the trophy and the title. One miss and that's it! On the other hand, take a striker for example- he can miss many chances, slip up on passes but when he scores just one goal he is redeemed! And the striker can be substituted by another player at any point in the game. The goalie has 90 or more minutes to deal with the pressure of incoming balls at high speeds!

The goalie is the last man in the team because everything boils down to him. When a striker has the ball, he has at most 19 people who want to see what he'd do with it, out of the 19, 9 are willing to help him score. A goalie on the other hand has nothing but the net and fans! The net is willing to accept the ball, while the fans curse or applaud him depending on his action. He has no one backing him but himself. In fact he has the whole world against him at that moment when a ball is fast approaching him.

So, why do I feel this way?

I lost out on a writing competition after making it to the second round. I know there are many more opportunities- but I looked at my submission and realized that I lost because I started on the theme but in the middle deviated from it. It's something I should have seen during the revision process but didn't and it's cost me a shot at $650.

Have you ever felt so drab? When you make a mistake it often costs you something, but the one thing that matters is how you get back up. A goalie goes to every match carrying the hopes of his team and fans on his shoulder, but my favorite Goalie of all time Edwin Van Der Sar once said, "It's not easy being a goalie, but you learn to know it's just you and the ball, and your hands. You have to catch that ball."

You have to try in life, if you don't try then you'll never know what it means to catch a ball, or watch it slip through your fingers.

I am not happy with myself, and I know I will not make the same mistake again- but for what it's worth I thank Grace for being happy about Arsenal's win, and I hope that she'll finally find Ozil as adorable as I do.

(Just sayin!)

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How can one change the world if one identifies oneself with everybody?