A Day at the Movies with My 4-Year Old

Yesterday was movie day at the Steele household.

Our oldest son had a minor surgery on Tuesday, and the two of us spent the afternoon recovering while watching The Mighty Ducks movie.

He’s recovering like a champ and, per usual, a kid-friendly movie proved so insightful.

If you’ve never seen the movie, it opens with a little kid skating across the ice from the center line.

He’s one-on-one with the opposing team goalie.

It’s the final shot — the chance for the team to win.

The game rests on the kid’s shoulders.

The kid: Gordon Bombay — who goes on years later to coach a bunch of ragtag kids from Minneapolis dubbed The Mighty Ducks.

Here’s the scene that got me.

He’s sitting down with Charlie, one of the players on his team.

Charlie: Is it true you were really a Hawk?

Coach Bombay: Yeah.

Charlie: Peter said you blew a really big game once.

Coach Bombay: Yeah, well, Peter’s right.

It was the last game of the state final.

We were tied 2-2 in the end of the third period.

I get a penalty shot.

I go in. I triple deke. I fake the goalie right out of his pads.

The puck's headed in, and then, Clang! Hits the post.

We lost in overtime.

A quarter of an inch this way and it would have gone in.

A quarter of an inch, Charlie.

Charlie: Well, yeah, but a quarter inch the other way and you'd have missed completely.

Coach Bombay: I never thought about it that way.

Ah, perspective.

It’s such a powerful thing.

One perspective — one way of seeing the missed shot — impacted Gordon Bombay’s life choices.

We can get stuck in them.

And they can set us free.

Either way, they drive us.

Here’s the real kicker, as Charlie pointed out to Coach Bombay: perspectives are a choice.

Choose wisely.