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The lessons to learn from the Bears

Mike Ditka, da coach, used to draw similarities between football and life so relentlessly that it became a part of his caricature.

“In life...” he would begin and then add some aphorism to explain what just took place on the gridiron. Maybe it was, in life, you're not always going to win. Or, in life, people are going to criticize. Perhaps even something like, in life, the clock sometimes runs out before you can get your kicker onto the field.

He did this so deliciously that the press, not to mention Saturday Night Live, would mock him for it, sometimes kindly, sometimes not. But for all the parodies, in reality (and in life), Ditka was perceptive. One of the beauties of sport is it indeed is a microcosm of the larger world and frequently provides lessons on life's sacred truths.

Clearly, that's the case with the Chicago Bears.

Remember what everyone was saying about the Bears last summer? It was difficult to escape the ridicule that came from every corner.

The team was coming off a 7-9-0 season in 2009. The preseason predictions agreed the NFC North would be a battle between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.

No one, it seemed, gave the Bears a chance. Everyone, it seemed, wanted Head Coach Lovie Smith out. Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz had gone from miracle worker to the butt of jokes because of his incessant gushing over quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler was no longer the hired gun from Denver, but a finger-pointing prima donna who displayed poor body language. Linebacker Brian Urlacher was still a future Hall of Famer, but now one who had lost the steps necessary to play at a superstar level.

No, it was not going to be a good year. Almost all of us shared that mood. Talk radio said it. Columnists wrote it. Fans around the water cooler, corner tap and Facebook commiserated about it.

Do you remember? Just last summer.

And look at the Bears now. One historic, ice-covered game away from the Super Bowl.

In life, what lessons do we draw from that?

A good one is this: Let go of cynicism. All of that cynicism, all of that ridicule, to what purpose was it? More importantly, how accurate was it?

If we're listening, another message we heard from this year's Bears is never assume anything. And never give up.

The players in pro football sometimes say the acronym NFL really stands for Not For Long, a reference in their minds to short careers.

But in a league of parity as well as in a world of competition, that description also applies to opportunities. Yes, they open for everyone. But be mindful, they lay unlocked only for a fleeting moment and then they close. The Bears have reminded us of that this year.

And, of course, here's hoping they remember it on Sunday.