By Nathan Rice

Whether you love football, hate it, or don’t care about it, you probably knew there was a big game on Sunday.

It’s hard to avoid the Super Bowl in America. It’s not a holiday, but it certainly feels like one. Super Bowl parties are thrown from sea to shining sea, stores are decorated, and it’s the top small talk topic for a week or two before it arrives.

This year more than 100 million people watched the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in the championship game of America’s favorite sports league. The Super Bowl, the teams involved, and several of the players dominated the social media top spots in America. When the game was over, the celebration by the people of Kansas City was so intense that their state could be seen from space as fireworks lit up their sky.

The biggest news story the day after the game was the Super Bowl, as non-sports reporters recapped the biggest game played in America. The streets of Kansas City will soon close as their gridiron warriors parade through the city. Winning the NFL championship is a pretty big deal.

Many of us wonder what it would be like to be a part of something so grandiose. We know that our names will never be trending on social media, we’ll never have 100 million people watching us, and our city will never throw a parade to celebrate our successes. We think we’ll never be a part of something as big as the Super Bowl — but I think we’re getting it wrong.

Our lives — our ordinary, everyday, plain, and, at times, hum-drum lives — are bigger than any sporting event.

My job will never result in Suffolk throwing a parade, but it does give me the ability to influence the lives of those with whom I interact. My position as a financial professional allows me to guide and direct people and families in a way that can give them a better financial position in the future.

You don’t have to have my job to make a difference. Whatever position you are in can be used to help people in one way or another. Making a difference in the lives of others is a big deal!

In the same manner, none of us will have 100 million pairs of eyes watching us. The people who see us are a much smaller number, but the people watching us are influenced by our lives in a far greater way than they are by those hoisting a trophy at the end of a game.

Our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers are all influenced by us. We can make their lives better by the way we live our lives, and our city can become a better place to live if we strive to be the best we can be.

I love the Super Bowl, but let’s not forget the “big game” nature of our lives. Our ability to influence each other and to make the world a better place is a much bigger thing than a game can ever be.

Nathan Rice is a Hampton Roads native and can be reached at nrice@abnb.org.