The World Cup Experience and Taking Chances When Life Is One Big Risk

My life is one big risk and so is yours. We can spend an entire life planning only to have our plans shift due to an unexpected chain of events. And, sometimes this out-of-control feeling gets the best us. However, when we accept that living our best life does indeed come with risk, we free ourselves to enjoy the game of life. In today’s episode I reflect on my World Cup experience, the unpredictable moments, and my new endeavor within the world of sports and fitness.

Win or lose, life is one big risk. Learn to love growth with the life that we are given.

Love Notes for Life Lifestyle Collection:
https://www.lovenotesforlife.com/

Love Notes for Life is now available:
Hardcover: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=9798987095805
Softcover: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=9798987095812

Connect & Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikecabuco
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikecabuco/
Site: https://michaelcabuco.com/

Transcript

How’s it everyone, my name is Mike Cabuco, and welcome to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast, your creative space for amplifying greatness through gratitude.

--

Not to humble brag or anything, but my life is one big fat risk. Sounds melodramatic, I know, but I’ve heard worst so don’t give me that look and it’s my podcast so I can say whatever the…

Hello, g’day, and how are you? Anyways, focus. I do digress. Let’s try that again. Ahem.

Life is one big risk. You could be the best planner in the world, have everything in your go-bag, prepped to the maximum effort, but all it takes is one event to set off a chain reaction of events that can cause your life to spiral way out of control.

Okay, when I say it that way, it does sound like I just underwent some sort of undercover operation and I only had a toothpick and dental floss to fight my way out of enemy territory. So, yes, maybe I’m a bit overacting, but if you’ve ever experienced flight delays, you’ll love this story of a man, who fought tooth and nail just to find a way to watch a World Cup match in Sydney in under 24 hours.

So if you’ve been following the podcast, I mentioned that I was heading over to Sydney, Australia for the World Cup. Initially, everything felt dialed in and it seemed like everything should’ve gone according to plan. My plan was foolproof. I had it all lined up. Depart Seattle, WA on Friday morning. Catch a connecting flight in Honolulu, Hawaii to meet up with my parents. And make our way to Sydney, Australia and arrive Saturday evening just in time to get one more sleep before the World Cup match between the Netherlands vs South Africa on Sunday. Sounds like a brilliant plan right? I mean, what could go wrong?

However, when you live a life like mine. It should come with a disclaimer: Expect risks. Plenty of them.

So I make it to the gate in SeaTac, S11 to be exact, and I can clearly see the Hawaiian Airlines plane parked right outside of the gate. But…then I hear some lovely news over the intercom, “Your flight has been delayed for 1 hour”. Okay, no big deal. I’ve experienced worst and I figured, well, once I hit Honolulu, I do have a 1.5 hour layover, so I SHOULD make my connecting flight. But, sometimes in life even willpower can’t save the day. And this is why you should never ever try to rely on the power of wishful thinking and manifesting things into existence, but I’ll save that comment for later. Anywho, so over the speakers the flight attendants made the announcement, “Anyone, who is connecting in Honolulu with final destination to Sydney, please come up to the guest services counter.” Oh no..Oh no! So, I keep my cool and head over to the counter and I receive the inevitable news.

“Sir, you’re not going to make your next flight.” Wait what? Come again? Could you say that one more time? Yes sir, unfortunately the plane needs maintenance and we won’t be leaving anytime soon. You got to be kidding. Come on now. So, she says, “Well sir, I’ve got two options for you. Option A, you continue on this flight, miss your connecting flight and stay overnight in Honolulu. The hotel is comped and you’ll fly out the next day with the same arrival time.”

Okay, well that is tempting. One night in Hawaii, stock up on malasadas and mochiko chicken, and enjoy some island time. But, I would miss a World Cup match. I know some of you are saying, come on man, it’s just soccer. But it’s the freaking World Cup and don’t get me started because I could spend an hour telling you why it’s NOT JUST soccer, BUT I’m feeling patient today so let’s get back to the story.

So Option B, we switch you over to another airline, this time Delta, but you’ll have to leave at 5:30PM at night, have a 2.5 hour layover in LAX and from there it would be a 14 hour flight to Sydney.

So I say, “Okay, but are you SURE that I’ll be there on Sunday morning!?” So, she said yes, and thus began my real-life experience as one of my favorite movie characters named Victor Navorski from the iconic 2004 film The Terminal. Hands down one of the best movies in the world.

But if you’ve never seen the movie, basically the movie is about a guy who is forced to live in an airport because he has no home to go back to due to political turmoil. It’s a sad, but charming story about a man who simply wanted to visit America to fulfill his father’s dying wishes. But unlike Victor’s story, mine was more of the milder side and I just had to deal with 8 hours of hanging out at SeaTac. Plus, I got a bunch of meal vouchers, so I definitely took advantage of that!

And while I was navigating the wilderness of my dilemmas, my parents, on the other hand, were facing their own nightmare. Their flight from Sacramento was delayed as well. So, they chose to spend a night in Honolulu, which is not a bad way to experience a flight delay, but ultimately miss their first World Cup match.

So, at this point I’ve got a few things running in my head. First, and this is from a purely observational standpoint. What is the probability of two planes breaking down? And secondly, what happened to the concept of preventive maintenance? I mean, was this just pure coincidence or was this preventable? I really hate to make assumptions, but trust me, this ain’t the first time I had this happen on Hawaiian Airlines and I hate to put them on blast…but I don’t want to lie to you all.

So a few of years ago, my parents and I were leaving Sacramento international Airport and shortly after we managed to maintain altitude, the captain announces over the intercom that we need to head back to the airport because of “maintenance.” And to top it off, he needs to burn off some fuel before we can land safely back at Sacramento so it’ll take an additional 30 minutes before we land. Ugh. Now that was another long day.

But, despite all the headaches and delays, I still have a soft spot for Hawaiian Airlines. The unexpected happens and that is one of the biggest facts of life. Life is one big risk.

I mean, consider this. Months ago I had the option of heading out earlier to watch the USWNT play during the group stage. I had complete faith that they would top the group E stage and land themselves in the round of 16 playing in Sydney. So I made plans all around them taking the win, advancing to the Round of 16, crushing that, and then moving on to the Quarterfinals in Wellington, New Zealand. I guess you could say I was pulling a Ted Lasso and becoming the personification of the word “believe”. 

Then, the unexpected happened. The rest of the world showed up.

The US was challenged and each country they faced held their ground. Vietnam, Netherlands, and even Portugal. They all stood up and fought with all their hearts just as much as the US did. But in the end, the US-Portugal match ended up as a draw and it landed them second place in group E which meant that they would follow the Melbourne/Auckland route to the Semi-finals. And the Dutch would follow the Sydney/Wellington pathway. So, go Netherlands? Go Team Orange? Haha.

And it was unfortunate that I missed the US team, but instead I experienced the unexpected. By following the Netherlands and eventually Spain, I got a chance to finally watch some of my favorite overseas players such Lieke Martens, Alexia Putellas, Aitani Bonmati, and Jen Hermoso just to name a few. It was such a privilege to watch these world class football players play right before my eyes. And to imagine, the only way I could’ve watched them in the past was to fly all the way to Barcelona just to get a chance to watch them. But here I was at the freaking World Cup feeling super grateful for this opportunity to see soccer at the highest level.

And, of course, it would’ve been nice to support the US team at the World Cup in person. I mean, I was really looking forward to rocking my team USA gear that I’m sure the operational security officers at my work would’ve happily questioned. But it would’ve been a treat to watch all the players from my local football club OL Reign at the World Cup stage. But, you know, things just didn’t go according to plan. After managing to advance to the round of 16, the US ended their World Cup tour early after a strong match against Sweden and it ended in a penalty kick shootout with Sweden sweeping in with a win for the round of 16. And spoiler alert, Sweden pushed past Japan in the quarterfinals, the underdog fan favorites, and secured their spot in the semis against Spain who beat the Netherlands. And I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it, but that Spain vs Netherlands match was freaking beautiful. It was such a treat to watch it in person and hands-down probably the best match I’ve ever seen in my life.

And yet here’s the inevitable reality about competition. There can only be one winner at the top. I think it’s safe to say that everyone at the World Cup knows this firsthand that pressure really is a privilege and it reaffirms the idea that life is one big risk. The question is, “What do you want in life and what are you willing to risk?”

So I’m back in Seattle, but I’m still thinking about my World Cup experience, my wonderful time in Australia and New Zealand, and the pressure of growth. I mean, I’ve done it all. I’ve taken financial gambles to create business opportunities. I’ve stepped up and created awkward situations just for a chance to establish stronger connections with the people I respect. And I even got into a sport that requires an insane amount of discipline and becoming extremely critical with my nutrition. And I’ve delayed a lot of things in my life to make room for bigger opportunities. And, despite it sounding like I live a hectic life, I do not want people to feel sorry for myself.

I chose the life that I’m living even if it comes with an insane amount of risks.

So I’m ready to take on one more risks that I’m incredibly happy to share with y’all. For the past few months, I’ve had this inner calling to pursue higher education within the field of exercise science. As I got deeper into fitness, I became increasingly fascinated with applied exercise science. In fact, nerd alert, everyday, I would plug in and listen to hours upon hours of lectures by Dr. Mike Israetel and Dr. Eric Helms on sports science and performance. I loved learning about the nitty gritty details of how hypertrophy works, designing mesocycles based on specificity, and how we could manipulate nutrition to achieve muscle gain or fat loss. And then, after months of listening to these guys talk, something finally clicked in my head, and I started to ask myself, “Why not use this time that I’m already devoting to learning about all this stuff towards an actual degree?” I mean, wouldn’t it that be better time spent?

So I took a chance, applied to grad school, and I’m happy to share that I will be pursuing my Master’s degree in Exercise Science with a double concentration in Sports Nutrition and Strength and Conditioning. As I told the admissions office, this is not me stepping away from my current job as a design engineer, but rather discovering ways to complement my knowledge base and skill set. In the end, I plan on utilizing my studies to integrate design engineering within exercise science. And the funny thing is I’ve already figured out my master’s thesis, but the idea is still premature, so I’ll save it for when the time is right to reveal it.

But this risk does come with a pretty big cost in the form of time – time that I’ve devoted to Love Notes for Life podcast. On the positive side, the Love Notes for Life podcast will continue to grow, and you can expect weekly episodes as usual. But, I’ll have to make an effort to make them more bite-sized to create more time for my graduate studies. I know the first few months is definitely going to be new for me and may be a wee bit more stressful, but rest assured that I will continue to pour my heart and soul into Love Notes for Life.

And here’s an added bonus. I really feel that by pursuing this master’s degree, I can create better exercise science content for Love Notes for Life backed with credibility. This podcast has always revolved around the lessons that I’ve gained through my own journey within sports and it’s going to be no different when I pursue my graduate studies. I feel that by developing a thorough understanding of exercise science, I’ll be able to find ways to make it more digestible for everyone, which is one of my main goals in life. I really feel like if you’ve got fitness goals whether it be in sports or just trying to maintain a healthy body composition, then the knowledge should be accessible and not hidden by a tremendous amount of science-y jargon.

So it’s going to be another wild ride for the next 2.5 years and I’m ready to take on the risks. And really, I want to get one thing straight. I know my life isn’t easy, but it’s a requirement for what I want to achieve in life. And here’s the important thing. Everything I do is taken from a stance of personal consent. I admit, my limits for living life can seem extreme in the grand scope of things. So, I don’t want people to misconstrue the idea that this is the only way to the top because everyone’s talent is different. Your talents have a natural way of guiding you on how much you can take in life. And I don’t think comparing journeys should be a competition, but an observation that we all take different paths to becoming the best version of ourselves.

But remember, to live life is to live with risks. At minimum, we should encourage ourselves to get out of our comfort zones, little by little, each and every day. We should look at goals with intention and set aside time to take risks to see what’s possible. There’s nothing wrong with keeping things static especially when you’re content with life. However, there’s also nothing wrong for yearning for more, taking chances, and venturing into uncharted territories.

So, when you get up tomorrow morning and you see the sun breaking through the blinds and you feel like you could go back to sleep, know this, you already took a big risk. You woke up and started living.

--

Thanks, y’all for tuning in to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast. I look forward to continuing this conversation of awareness and amplifying greatness through gratitude. If you’re enjoying the Love Notes for Life podcast, please subscribe and leave a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, and other major podcast platforms. The Love Notes for Life apparel and book is now available at lovenotesforlife.com. For the latest updates be sure to track the mindset by following me @mikecabuco on Instagram or Twitter.

Thanks y’all for the support and always remember, “There is beauty in knowing that there is only one of you.” Take care.