FIVE SECONDS

What would you do if you had five seconds to make a decision that could change everything?

That question came to mind watching Dr. Jesse McGuire recently perform the National Anthem at Chase Field.

McGuire is a trumpet player. He has played the anthem many times—including before Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.

But this time, something went wrong.

Halfway through the anthem, his trumpet malfunctioned.

He tried to fix it.

It didn’t work.

And then came the five seconds.

He could have stood there embarrassed.

He could have apologized.

He could have walked away.

Instead, he grabbed the microphone and started singing.

And something remarkable happened.

The crowd didn’t laugh.

They didn’t boo.

They joined him in the moment.

What was supposed to be a flawless trumpet performance became something much more human.

And I wonder if that’s the Caring Catalyst for this Monday morning:

Life rarely gives us much time between something going wrong and deciding what we’re going to do next.

Five seconds.

That’s sometimes all we have.

Five seconds to take a breath instead of losing our temper.

Five seconds to say, “I’m sorry.”

Five seconds to call someone we’ve been meaning to call.

Five seconds to reach out to someone who looks like they’re struggling.

Five seconds to stop worrying about looking foolish and simply do the next right thing.

We often think changing our lives requires some enormous decision.

Maybe sometimes it does.

But maybe sometimes life changes because, in five seconds, we choose a different response.

The trumpet may fail.

The plan may fall apart.

The moment may not look anything like we imagined.

But we still get to decide what we do next.

So here’s my Monday morning question:

What five-second decision might you make today that could change the rest of your day—or perhaps even someone else’s life?