Why do we trip ourselves up...

→ When we're about to move a relationship forward?

→ When we're about to close the deal?

→ When we're a few strides from the finishing line?

Let's go back to June 15, 1980, to St. Theresa's Catholic School, London, England…

My heart thumps in my chest. Breath pumps like a bellows. Scuffed Gola-clad feet pound the cut grass. Yelling spectators blur by.

Up ahead, the white tape twirls as it stretches across the finishing line.

I'm 7 years old, tall, not a great athlete. But right now, in the sprint race at the school's annual sports day, I'm neck and neck with my best friend Paul. 

Maybe we'll cross the line together? We double up for most activities in class, so why not on the track too? 

Twenty gangly-legged strides and we're there!

I glance to the right. No-one there. 

I glance to the left. Paul is falling behind. Keep this up and I'll win the race myself!

But hang on... I don't win races. Christopher wins races. I come in third, or fourth. This first place would be a first. 

This doesn't feel right. I slow my stride so Paul can catch up. 

I glance to the left. Paul's not there! I turn and see him sprawled on the ground. He's fallen!

I turn back, and now Christopher has caught up with me. But if I just hold on and push for ten strides, I can make it. But...

… I stop. I run back and help Paul to his feet as the rest of the pack race past. 

We jog to the finish line, joint last. 

What happened there? Was I afraid of winning, or afraid of winning alone? Or did I just want to help a friend in need out?

I've talked about Fortune and Reversal a few times now.

But there's a third step: the Switch.

I had run myself into first place, with a great chance to win – the Fortune.

But my best friend fell – the Reversal.

Now comes the Switch moment: would I push on and claim my Fortune, or give into the comforting pull of the Reversal?

I think I chose the easier option at the time. What would have happened if I had won? I would have to change my opinion of myself to a WINNER. I'd have to win every time then, right? What if I couldn't keep that going? I'd be a failure.

My perfectionism wouldn't let me cross that line in first place. 

Thirty years later, this image somehow worked its way into my first produced screenplay: “The Line.”

Yesterday I mentioned how although me winning the short story competition didn't lead to success in the way I expected, that story did get me working with director Diarmuid Goggins. Based on this pitch, Irish television network TG4 commissioned me to write and Diarmuid to direct this film. 

Because of the nature of the story, we faced opposition every step of the way: “People won't understand it... It's too dark.... It's too weird.” 

Twelve years on, it doesn't seem so weird now...

Set in an Alternative Present, we follow the story of rebel teen Joe in his struggle against an intrusive government regime: nightly curfews, fines for irresponsible parents, and strict interrogations for prospective parents.

When Joe's girlfriend gets pregnant, the government won't let them keep the child because they'd be unsuitable parents.

Joe's self-destructive response gets him put under house arrest with an ankle tag. He can't venture more than ten meters from the receiver. He draws a line around his house to mark his boundary.

Now Joe faces a Switch Moment.

Will he stay locked in the prison he has built for himself?

Or will he break free, run to his love and to hell with the consequences?

Watch the excerpt from “The Line” to find out!

The Line-Ending

By the way, here's the response from national newspapers when Diarmuid and I took the massive leap towards Fortune and rejected those trying to drag us back into a Reversal: 

→ “Provocative ideas slickly executed with a confident swagger.”

→ “Utterly original and thought provoking.”

→ “Powerful, challenging and absorbing drama.”

When you're next faced with a Switch Moment, will you push harder towards Fortune or be dragged back by the Reversal?

Tomorrow: Living With The Ghost Of Ernest Hemingway.