In the TV drama that originated from the movie of the same name, Friday Night Lights, the rallying cry for the team is “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.” Coach Taylor impresses this statement and idea on to his team every game, before they take the field. The statement is certainly more that just words…there’s meaning behind it. At a simple level, one could argue, that he’s getting at the idea of winning not being the most important thing. If you will, simply taking the field, knowing you’ve offered your very best makes you a winner. I can completely understand that point of view. It makes you feel good on the inside. We connect with it because the idea of the indomitable human spirit is inspiring and worth paying attention to.
The rub of course is that this is television; good television, but still television. This isn’t real life. In real life, we want to believe that simply having Clear Eyes and Full Hearts allows us to have a moral victory and ideally something more. From recent real experience, I can tell you that’s not the case. Actually, it’s heartbreaking to know you gave your best, and yet you still lost. It’s humbling and certainly makes you question if giving your all was worth it. After all, you could have just as easily failed by giving 50%.
In the movies, we root for the underdog. We cheered Rocky when he was fighting Apollo Creed. We wished Diane Court would come to her senses in Say Anything and give love a chance with John Cusack’s character LLoyd Dobler. We felt empty on the inside when Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon split-up in Fever Pitch. We want the underdog to win. It gives us hope to know that yes, the small can triumph over the big, the week can best the mighty and real effort is a catalyst to achieving your goals. Without movies, without stories, without real world exceptions, we wouldn’t believe – and without that belief our lives would lose a certain amount of meaning.
I was engaged once for 3 months. Not 4, not 3 months and two weeks; no, 3 months to the day (believe me, the irony sticks with me). Despite effort, despite the grand gestures and the little things, despite wanting, wishing and hoping, despite the capitulations and compromises…it didn’t last. The mountains were tall and rocky too climb. Blood was thicker than water. The differences were valued more than the similarities. Love was not enough. In the movies, nothing would have kept us apart. In the movies, there would have been a realization that things that brought us together were worth fighting for.
But, real life isn’t the movies.
In reality, in this world, in this life, the sad fact is that too often Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can Lose is the rule, not the exception. Sorry, Coach Taylor, I hate to disagree with you, but the truth is the truth.
Head of Social Media at Walgreens. Interactive marketer, innovator, boat rocker, continuous learner, movie lover, risk taker, dad and all around good guy. I'm always up for a spirited conversation. These are my thoughts and ramblings, not those of my employer.
