The Tom Brady rule

By the end of his career, Tom Brady said he knew opposing defenses “better than they knew themselves.” He had spent so much time looking at defensive schemes in the film room and behind center that there was literally nothing the opposing team could show him that he hadn’t already seen. (As a Chiefs fan, it’s painful to admit that Brady was specifically referring to the Kansas City defenders he outsmarted en route to winning his last Super Bowl.)

The problem, Brady saw, was that this realization came at the end of a 20-year playing career. His mind was ready for anything. His body wasn’t. The Tom Brady rule is, just when you achieve mastery over something, it’s time to move on.

And that will be true of us as caregivers. At the start we look unpromising. We mess up. We learn to do better. We learn to let go. We define goals for success, even in our stressful situation. We desire peaceful, pain-free days for our loved one. And we get them. We even add in a little pleasure. We adapt to our new normal. We get better.

And then, just about the time we feel some mastery over the situation, the journey is over. But the lessons we have learned and the skills we have acquired will serve us well in whatever we choose to do going forward. Tom Brady took less than two years to become the best football color guy on TV. I’m doing The Manly Caregiver.

What next chapter of adventure or service or love will you write?