Wednesday, February 01, 2006

A Bonus Point

Last night i arrived home to see the last 20 overs of the cricket on tv. The batting team was doing quite well, and were headed for a comfortable victory. So comfortable in fact, that they were a chance for a 'bonus point' - an extra competition point awarded to a team who wins by more than a set margin.

With the possibility that an extra point could come in handy later in the competition, the batting team accelerated their efforts, but in doing so several players got out in quick succession. It started to look as if they would do the unthinkable, and 'snatch defeat from the jaws of victory' - losing the match and 4 competition points - all for the sake of this 'bonus point'.

How does this happen? We set out for what's important (like winning a cricket match) but we get distracted. Greed takes over. We want more! And sometimes it costs us the thing we originally wanted.

Fortunately the batting side realised this and settled for an 'ordinary' win. They focussed on what was important, and achieved it. Let's hope we can do the same.

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