Day 148: Lessons Learned From A Weekend of Basketball

Daily Blog Challenge Day 148/365

This weekend was an emotionally charged two days of basketball.  For the second week in a row, my husband's team found itself in the championship game.  Once again, things did not turn out how we would have liked and we came home with second place.  In the grand scheme of things, it is a great accomplishment, but in the heat of the moment the disappointment can cloud the positives.  Over the course of coaching this past year I have learned a lot of lessons and this weekend reminded me of many of them.

I love athletics for many reasons.  They have provided me with a positive outlet throughout my life, they have helped me stay strong and fit and they have taught me many lessons that have enabled me to be successful.  Many of these lessons are erased if we just focus on winning.  In the end, no one will care if you won a trophy in 8th grade or even in high school.  It is the lessons you learned that will impact your future.

1.  Overall, people are far too negative.
2.  People do not focus on the positives nearly enough.
3.  Research has shown that 5-1 positives to negatives is optimal for marriages to be successful.  We need to praise far more than we critique.
4.  "No news is good news" is not a positive philosophy when it comes to interacting with people.
5.  People in an emotional state do not want to hear reason or logic.  Just let them speak their piece.
6.  The worth of a person/player is not dependent on how they perform.
7.  We all have a role to play.  Some may be more glamorous, but none are more important.
8.  We cannot all be the Super Star, but we can all be a positive, contributer to the team.
9.  We play sports because they are fun (yes, we want to win), therefore do not let the outcome impact if we have fun or not.
10.  It is far easier to see faults in others than it is to see those same faults in ourself.
11.  Adults are often more emotionally invested in youth sports than the players.
12.  Overall, people are doing their best.  If it was a simple choice to do it right (and not get yelled at) most would simply do it.
13.  Simple is not always easy.
14.  Relationships matter.
15.  If a behavior is not acceptable when you are losing, it is not acceptable when you are winning.
16.  People will justify many behaviors "acceptable" if they are winning.
17.  Trust your coaches/teachers/bosses.  They more than likely have more information than you do.
18.  It is easy to think you can do someone else's job better.  Focus on doing your job.
19.  Just because something is not happening does not mean the coach/teacher/boss has not instructed for it to be done.
20.  Life is too short to get stressed out about a game/test/project.  Do your best and focus on the process.
21.  Remember the real reason why you do what you do.

Thank you for reading.