Fantasy football has been a thrilling, engaging, and oftentimes frustrating hobby of mine for 20 years. No matter how good your fantasy roster looks, humans go out each week to play the games. These guys could be playing through injuries or just have bad games, flushing their projections and your victory down the toilet.

That’s why I understood my son’s discouragement over his losing record. His roster looks solid, much better than the wins and losses show. I’ve been there countless times. I’m playing in four leagues this year and multiple leagues every year, so I masochistically multiply my chances for disappointment.

However, the 12-team league I’m playing in with my son sends the top six teams to the playoffs, and once you’re in, it’s like a great reset.

Anything can happen.

Your studs who’ve been duds can hit a stretch of great matchups and set your team ablaze. Daniel, the co-founder and 4-time champ in my main league of 20 years, has limped into the playoffs countless times with barely a .500 record.

And won it all.

Meanwhile, I stress every week, chasing a perfect record, and once lost a semifinal in the final seven seconds of a Monday Night Football game.

No, Bobby, I still haven’t forgotten.

My heart always breaks a little when I see my kids disappointed about something, even though I don’t always rush in to save them. Life is hard. They have to figure out some things for themselves.

Still, I do encourage them, like I did my son. I told him that he’s not fighting for first place; his goal right now is sixth place.

This isn’t about settling for mediocrity. It’s about working with your circumstances, instead of ignoring them, and trying to find a way forward.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Don’t give up on the game.

Work the waiver wire. Make good trades. Try to win and get a little better each week.

I started 1-7 one season and was terribly discouraged. Thoughts of quitting crept into my mind. Instead, I played every week like it was my last, made aggressive trades, and won the final six games of the regular season.

I missed the playoffs, but barely.

In spite of the dismal start, the last six weeks were the most exciting of my fantasy life. Definitely the most interesting.

We’re nearing the point this season where struggling teams can’t sit around and wait for good things to happen. They need to shake things up.

For my son, it’s not quite the “witching hour,” as Scott Hanson says each week on NFL RedZone.

The clock’s ticking, but there’s still time for him to get into the top six.

So much self-help motivational slurry is about living your best life, dreaming big, shooting for the stars, and never settling, but Jake Spoon said it best in the Pulitzer Prize-winning book and critically acclaimed TV miniseries, Lonesome Dove.

Sometimes you’re just trying to get through the territory alive.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Don’t compound your problems. Discouraged people do desperate things. However, aggressive isn’t the same as desperate. Be wise and do what you can. Trust in the Lord, pray that He keeps you “in paths of righteousness,” and keep taking your shots.

Maybe you won’t make the top six. Not everyone will. But whether it’s fantasy football, your job, your marriage, or your parenting, showing up every day and playing the game will teach you more than throwing in the towel ever will.