WHAT A FINISH! If I hadn’t seen it, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. With less than two minutes left in the game, the Chicago Bears had the ball on their own three yard line. They had no time-outs remaining and they had 97 yards to go for a touchdown. They were down by four points, so they needed a touchdown; a field goal just wouldn’t do. And to make matters worse, they were playing in their opponent’s stadium. The noise of the crowd was deafening. And as if all of this wasn’t bad enough, the receiver in the quarterback’s helmet malfunctioned. He couldn’t communicate with the bench or the booth. Essentially, he was on his own as to which plays to call.

I almost changed the channel, but then thought I might as well see it to the end. Perhaps there would be a miracle play. Who knows? Stranger things have happened in the world of sports. And to my utter amazement, I watched as the Bears marched steadily to the other end of the field. They managed the clock with perfection, throwing sideline passes and spiking the ball when necessary. With about 9 seconds to go, they completed the winning touchdown. What a game! What an illustration of perseverance, of persistence.

The quarterback refused to give up. Even though the odds were stacked against him, he refused to accept defeat as long as there was a chance. He wasn’t going to just play out the game and see what happened—he took hold of the situation and made it happen! The only way to make a comeback is to go on.

This whole episode, as it unfolded before my eyes, reminded me a simple truth: “Nothing in the world, including talent, genius and education, can take the place of persistence. Never give in. Never give up. Success belongs to those who refuse to take “No!” for an answer. Winners are just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination.

So the next time you feel as though you're down on the 3-yard line with little time left in the game of life, breathe in your second wind and go for it!