The Width of a Shoe

One moment doesn't define who you are.

Indiana's Nick Marsh will probably replay that final pass against Ohio State in his mind a thousand times. With just over a minute remaining, he caught what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown. For a few seconds, he was the hero. Then the replay showed his foot out of bounds, and Ohio State escaped with a 19-15 victory.

The difference between winning and losing came down to a few inches.

Most of us will never have our disappointing moments replayed before millions of people. But we do a pretty good job of replaying them ourselves.

We revisit the argument we handled poorly, the opportunity we missed, or the decision we wish we could take back. Sometimes, we replay those moments so often that we begin allowing them to define who we are.

That's where disappointment becomes something more damaging.

There's nothing wrong with examining our mistakes. That's how we learn. But there's a difference between learning from something and punishing ourselves for it.

Ask yourself what happened, what you could have done differently, and what you'll do the next time you're in a similar situation. Then move forward.

Ohio State won despite its mistakes. Indiana lost despite doing plenty of things right.

Neither team's final score tells the whole story.

And neither does your worst moment.