The Road to 40 Day 294/365: Spirit of Competition

I may not be very athletic, but I do love what sports has done for me. Whether I’m watching it or actually playing in one, it’s always been an important part of my life.

I’ve met friends through it, and it’s been a good conversation starter for whoever. I’m always excited to talk about something I’m passionate about, and I’m always curious about sports that I don’t know yet.

With my recent need to lower my weight and cholesterol, the doctor advised me to be more active. Playing basketball has been my go-to activity so that I would enjoy it, but he did say I need to build muscle as well. As a result, I’ve been doing calisthenics as well.

Combining this lifestyle with a new diet, I’ve been able to drop a couple of kilos.

When I started this journey, I was fluctuating between 88.7 to 90.6 on a regular basis. On a good day, I’d see 87kgs there. For the first time in a long while, I saw 86 on the scales.

I’ve always told myself I’d try to lose weight, but I just couldn’t sustain my momentum. Then I fall back to old habits, and suddenly, I’m fat again. These days, I’m extremely motivated by the fact that if I don’t do anything, my lifespan will significantly be closer to its end than the middle.

For the past 16 days, I haven’t missed a day of physical activities. This day, it was basketball for me while Vino played football. I did drills while he did drills. When it was gametime, I went up to watch him.

He did pretty well, and his teammates on offense did the work as well. After leading 5-0, he was switched as the goalkeeper of the other team and blocked about three shots while conceding a goal.

With his confidence high, he was switched over to the bigger boys together with three of his teammates. It was a significantly bigger goal, a wider field, and a quicker pace of the game.

He conceded a goal off a goal kick because the ball bounced really high and he wasn’t able to reach it. Later, he conceded another goal off a rebound, and he was switched to play in the field. After the game, his three teammates huddled up with him in the middle.

I thought he was hurt, but I tried not to interfere. I wanted him to fight his own battles. As it was taking a bit long, though, I had to come over. Apparently, he was sad because he thought he did badly, and his friends were consoling him.

After his friends talked to him, I let coach talk to him as well. I hoped they could get through to him. Before we went home, I asked him to sit at the swings so that he can watch the adult games and so that he can breathe first.

I had to remind him that Iove that he’s competitive, but he needs to understand where losing matters. If he lost 1-0 in a league final, sure. But losing in a practice match is nothing. It’s not even on his records, and no one cares. Ultimately, every one of them wins because they learned.

I told him he needs to get used to everything first – the size, the pace, and the styles of the players. He needs to understand that he can’t be good at everything immediately.

It’s one of the things that sport has taught me, and I hope he learns it and more as he continues his training sessions.