I'm actually finding myself in the position of having an opinion about something to do with football. Being from the Philadelphia area, I might pay a bit of attention when something notable is going on with one of the Philly sports teams. It was the playoffs, and eventual Super Bowl win by the Eagles last year that first caught my interest. By the time I had any awareness of the circumstances, Nick Foles (the back up quarterback for Carson Wentz who was injured late in the season) was leading his team to a highly improbable world championship, earning the Super Bowl MVP award in the process. And he truly earned it. Seemingly, in every clutch situation, he delivered. He was in the zone. The team seemed as one with him. It was truly inspirational. Immediately as the season ended the buzz began about the starting quarterback situation the following year, and it was clear that Nick Foles had not won the job, even if he had won the Super Bowl. To say that he was gracious about it would be an understatement. Whenever I would hear him speak, he always centered around the theme: Don't think about tomorrow, don't think about yesterday, be in the moment. Most importantly, to this observation, this is how he conducts himself on the field. And the (even more) highly improbable events of the current football season have brought this into focus for me. With 3 weeks to go in the regular season, and with a 6-7 Eagles record, Carson Wentz goes down again. Enter Nick Foles, and the team wakes up to win the last 3 games of the season (which they weren't supposed to), sneaking in to the wild card playoff round. By now everyone is paying attention, as Nick Foles continues to perform, at seemingly every critical moment (or maybe just every moment. He tied the NFL record for consecutive completed passes - 25 - in the final game of the regular season). So now the Eagles, having won the wild card round in a heart stopping game, find themselves in the thick of the playoffs again. And everyone in the sports world is talking about Nick Foles. And here is where it really begins to hit home for me. The summary of all the chatter is the consensus (sort of) that Carson Wentz is the better quarterback, in terms of overall ability, and as such is secure in his starting status going forward. To which Nick Foles responds something like: "I love being part of the Eagles organization. I'm happy to be here no matter what. I'm not thinking about tomorrow, or yesterday, just in the moment". So we have the (accepting the argument) superior skills versus ability to completely, without distraction, be in the moment. The other week, when I heard a commentator reference that Carson Wentz can have a tendency to overthink (because more options are on the table for him, because of his abilities, or something like that) ... "ding"... yes. I am really identifying with Nick Foles at this point. And drawing inspiration. It is said that Nick Foles plays a game with more limited options because of his limited abilities (compared to Wentz). In my realm, I also play with limited options. I am not a comprehensively skilled pianist. There are things I do well, there are things I don't. And I know what these are on both sides, and construct my playbook accordingly. The idea of "playing within your box" has been on my radar screen for some time, as a critical element in performance. Know what you can do, know what you can't, live in the former. But add being in the moment, and what do you have? You have magic. You have authenticity. You have connection. You have uniqueness. When someone wants to assert (or challenge me) that I can do anything at the piano, I'll respond, "No, but there is one thing that I can do better than anyone else; be myself". But pondering all this allows me to better see that being myself is not simply disciplining within my skill sets. It is also surrendering these to the moment. And Nick Foles is showing everyone what is means to get (self) out of the way, and be in the moment. This is the magic. And everyone appreciates the magic. Until they start talking about it. And then they (or many of them) miss the point. Whatever happens this week (the Saints are an 8 point favorite on Sunday, and beat the Eagles 48-7 in the regular season), Nick Foles is being an example for all of us. Let us all be receptive to the deeper things.