The Pitch

So it's as simple as it could be.

Since high school I've been able to play right wing defense on a soccer team with fair capability. I have the speed there when I need it, the attack, and the wisdom to simply contain when that's all that's needed. Basically, I'm decent. Passable.

Last night, with a team short on players, under the bright lights of the George Mason High School of Falls Church, VA, I was told to play left back instead of right.

My league is a co-ed one, decently competitive, but mostly just fun. With one player short, we were actually fairing pretty well, and the most surprising thing was - I play better left side than I do right. I had just never tried it before.

You'd be surprised how simple that switch can be. When I took my place on the field, there was no awkwardness. I had a different view, but I ended up liking it better. I was able to use my body a lot better based on the angles of attack that their offense was using. It was a great feeling. I played better than I ever have.

Sometimes that's all it takes.

We are dead set in our ways most of the time. We're stubborn. We assume our point of view is correct, so why should there be room to argue? Then, by a fluke chance you get placed on the other side of the field and like it better.

A writer that I know once told me that he would often take a side of an issue that opposed his viewpoint and defend it just to test his writing skills. I have also taken up that mantle, arguing when I can for something I don't believe in just to give myself the proper perspective - one of 360 degrees.

We won our game last night. We communicated well with each other and benefited from it. Where the extended metaphor ends, though, is that there are not just two sides to beliefs or opinions like there are on the filed. That would be too easy to say, too cliched. A debate isn't as easy as one side vs. the other. In most things, there are multiple viewpoints that we have to seek out, that we have to be way of, that we should defend from time to time for no other reason than to imbue a modicum of wisdom into our normally stubborn minds.

What could you switch sides on? It's not necessary that you stay there permanently, but last night I got the chance to have a different perspective, and I found that the grass was greener.

For those worried about me resting on my laurels about last night's win, I spent the entire morning at the DC DMV - which can dampen anyone's spirits. I'm back down to humble.