We’ve all been Joseph Ossai
The AFC Championship was brutal for the Cincinnati Bengals, especially for Joseph Ossai. His late out-of-bounds hit of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the final seconds led to a 15-yard penalty that enabled the Chiefs to kick a game-winning field goal. You can point to dozens of other failures during the game that cost the Bengals a Super Bowl berth. You can blame the officiating. You can list the bad passes, missed opportunities, and bad breaks. But it’s the last big mistake people remember. Bill Buckner’s error, Steve Bartman’s foul ball, and Donnie Moore’s blown save are the ones that stick in people’s minds.
And we’ve all been there.
I was the recipient of such a mistake in Toastmasters when a district governor’s misreading of contest results possibly cost me a championship. We’ve been in situations when our mistakes caused problems for others. We get an order wrong, miss a deadline, or back into someone’s car in the parking lot. While these missteps aren’t nearly as costly or public as losing a conference championship, they still make us feel horrible. We regret disappointing people who depend on us. We question our confidence, our ability, and even our sense of self-worth. We also fear that those we let down will hold it against us forever.
We must remember there’s a path forward.
