Ted Lasso Episode 3 - Just Give Me A Chance

<p> Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of the person you're becoming and a meaningful life. When I studied to become a meditation teacher, I dove into the Buddhist underpinnings of the practice. That gave my teaching a solid foundation. There are so many great lessons to pull from, from the Dharma to help us ease suffering.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But like MBSR, which I studied as well, I believe pause, breathe, reflect, and what we do here on Whole Again is secular. I'm not looking to turn anyone into a Buddhist. I also believe there are so many wonderful stories and examples of mindfulness or Dharma in pop culture or everyday life. Now, some of those shows that we watch or music we listen to, they pull from world religions.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So I like connecting what's happening in modern-day life back to the ancient practice. In some ways, I think it makes the practice more accessible because I'm on a mission to help more people experience the benefits of a mindfulness practice. I believe in a way that the pandemic was a great invitation from our barista.</p>
<p></p>
<p>You know, the one that fills up our mug, M-U-G, Mother Earth, the universe or God, to practice mindfulness. With the practice of mindfulness, we can ease suffering, and I do believe we would have a more peaceful and healthier planet. And during the pandemic, besides mindfulness, a bit of my medicine was Ted Lasso.</p>
<p></p>
<p>If you caught last Wednesday's episode, you know I'm doing a series recapping season four, each episode week by week. But instead of giving you some spoiler, which I promise never to do, or to break down each episode scene by scene, I'll take a theme from each episode, highlight it, and then talk about how we can weave it into our lives so we can step into the person we're becoming and a meaningful life.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I believe during the first three seasons, there were so many wonderful mindfulness lessons They made the show entertaining, and some of those quotes were very memorable, but they have so much more potential if we can take them and see how we can incorporate them into our lives. Hence the reason why I'm doing this recap for Season 4.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I wanna maximize all the Ted Lassoness that we can get because I know that, like everything, everything is temporary, that the show will not go on forever. So with that preamble, let's get into Episode 3 of Season 4. And as I watched last week's episode, I could sense that the good old Ted Lasso flywheel is starting to move just a bit faster.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We're starting to build momentum. The Lady Greyhounds as a team are starting to take shape. In Episode 3, we meet three new players: Lizzie, Shannon, through open tryouts, and Gemma, who has history, and it's not so pleasant, with Assistant Coach Alice Chilton, which is a clever play on words to Alex Chilton, the late frontman of The Box Tops and also the title of a song by The Replacements.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So we meet these three, and what's common with these three, and really the whole team, is that they simply want a chance to compete, to see what they're made of. How relatable is that? And I think most of us can relate to that desire. Heck, ABBA wrote a whole song on Take a Chance on Me You might have felt it going after a job.</p>
<p></p>
<p>"I know I don't have the experience, but take a chance on me." In our social lives, going on a first date is taking a chance on someone. And in another way, we sign up for big events as a way to take a chance on ourselves to see what we're made of. And the team wants this. Rebecca wants it for the team. Ted wants it for his players.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We all want it, hopefully, for each other. Some of the memories I cherish most from my corporate experience is when I saw someone with a talent, they might not have seen it in themselves, and I took a chance on them. Even though there might have been naysayers that said, "Ah, that person's not ready for the promotion," I thought, and maybe it was a bit of my ego at play, that we could make it happen.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Now, it didn't happen every time, but that shouldn't prevent us from taking chances on people going forward. Now, in Season 4, there is a through line around the unlevel playing field of women's sports. And I've heard other podcasters break down Season 4 in their way, which is a little bit different than our way here, and I've read some critics online.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And most of them happen to be white dudes like me, and they're uncomfortable with this line that suggests, because it's true, that the playing field isn't level. We are only three episodes in, and they're already whining about, "Oh, I don't like that." When we practice mindfulness long enough, no doubt that something will come up that will create some tension.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We might not like it. It might be a muddy moment, and usually there is some type of lesson embedded in that tension. Now, for context, I'm a co-author of a book on allyship. I'm a girl dad times two, and both of my daughters are active in their sports. And I sponsored the largest female cycling team and club in New York City for over six years, and I'm just a lover of sports in general.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I believe women's sports are as entertaining, and sometimes more entertaining, than the guys'. And I will say this with that context in mind: the playing field isn't level. And to give you a bit of flavor for what The New York Times, which is usually progressively minded Their reviewer, Christopher Orr, and by his photo, seems like a white guy just like me.</p>
<p></p>
<p>He's probably a nice, friendly chap, but he's one who's tired of all this. He wrote, "Is there a ton of sexism in women's soccer? I imagine so, but the sport is not some bizarre new concept to be publicly ridiculed. Ted has traveled back to England, not 1975." Again, I believe Christopher is probably a fine chap, but bless his heart and everyone else who's criticizing this part of season 4.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We don't have to go back to 1975. We can just look through the lens of 2026 and the playing field throughout sport, throughout society, throughout the corporate world, name your playing field, it's simply not level. And the reason why we need to continue to talk about it, to make men who look like me uncomfortable and others that might feel the same way, is that that's the only way we create real change.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Yes, progress has been made. We should celebrate that progress, but there's still a whole bunch of potential to tap into. And this theme about taking a chance on someone is a big part of episode number three. Who doesn't want that? Again, I think so many, if not all of us, can relate to, "Just take a chance on me.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Let me prove it to you that I got game Wherever you happen to play your game. But too often we let bias and belief get in the way of offering someone a chance. But true leadership, great leadership isn't about assembling a team of people who are perfect, whatever perfect is, right? We talk about that all the time here.</p>
<p></p>
<p>True leadership is an act of vision. It says, "Hey, we're going over here. We're going to a higher ground, closer to the pinnacle. Come join me. Yeah, we're not all perfect, but together we can rely on each other, and together we can form a great team that can get to where we wish to get to." It's seeing the gold in someone sometimes before they even know they have the gold within them.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And yes, there are people that we will come across in our travels that might have a checkered past, or they might not have been that successful, and we might feel like, "Ah, I don't know. I don't wanna take a chance on this person." And that's real. That's a fair feeling to have. And if that's the only perspective, then there's no possibility of creating Kintsugi.</p>
<p></p>
<p>When that piece of pottery breaks and we sweep the pieces into the trash, then Kintsugi never materializes. Through mindfulness, we learn discretion. We learn about nuance. We learn that we can be aware of someone's past and also hold open the door to a new possibility, and then making the decision with that awareness.</p>
<p></p>
<p>That's mindful leadership. So with our Ted Lasso take a chance on me spirit, I'll encourage you to look around your life this week. Who's on the sidelines that wants to get into the game? Who is someone you see a spark in and they might not even see it for themselves? Who might you be able to take a chance on?</p>
<p></p>
<p>To give them a chance to perform. See if you can extend that to someone else. Or another way is to simply take a chance on yourself. I think this is what Gemma is here to show us, that sometimes you simply need to put that gremlin or that inner critic, you know, that unhealthy voice in your head, put that on the sideline and get out onto the pitch.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Perform. Live up to your potential. Take a chance on yourself. If no one's willing to take a chance on you, then start at home. Take a chance on yourself. You might not be successful, but you'll be proud of making that decision. That is also a version of being a mindful leader.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And as always, thanks for being here. Thanks for listening. I hope you're checking out my new series, the other series called A Perfectly Imperfect Union, where I'm talking to everyday Americans about their reflections of America at year 250. And as a reminder, celebrate your scars as golden symbols of your strength and resilience.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And don't forget to have fun storming the castle.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And if you wish to learn more about creating beautiful ripples and how to prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day, please visit my website, michaelobrienshift.com, and sign up for my newsletter called The Ripple Effect. And join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here at Whole Again, and discover how you can heal, grow, and become more resilient, and celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this, and we've got you.</p>