Wise folks have said we all compete. Against time, against each other, and against ourselves. Only a few of us, however, are athletes, and even fewer any good. But for every great athlete, there are a million or more opinions about that athlete. Fans and detractors battling it out on a very non-athletic playing field, with absolutely no real purpose in sight. So much time and energy invested in having an emotional attachment to someone else's athletic ability sans any real connection to the person beyond an opinion of their skill.
Do you think that athlete suffered and strived for greatness to then be responsible for the outcome of your feelings about their success, failure, or choices in between? Because many of you are acting like y'all have some kind of personal stake in certain athlete's lives.
Perhaps it's a good time to be your own athlete. Invest in the connection between you and your own ability. Good news.! Greatness can be a sliding scale. Your 15-minute walk might be someone else's double back flip triple twist (known as the Biles II, by the way). Your performance, like the fantastic athlete you might have opinions about, has no responsibility to anyone else. Your authentic athlete self may have the support and guidance from many hands and brains, but the relationship between you and your body is not responsible for anyone else's feelings or beliefs. You've got nothing to prove to anyone. There is, however, a caveat. I'm none too bright, but there is an association that has not escaped my eyes. Our relationship with our body is a correlation to our other relationships. How you get along with you will offer an accurate portrayal of your other connections. It bears mentioning that this means how you really get along with you, not how you perceive the relationship. If you and you went to couples counseling, what deep interactions would the therapist unlock?
Your authentic athlete connection, where the cognitive You and the physical You have a strong dialog, can have deep impact on how you connect with your tribe., especially if my little theory above is correct. You have nothing to prove, and you are not responsible for how others feel about you, but ya may have a bit of responsibility for yourself. Guess how that will manifest with others? If you have anything to say about a definitive athlete, someone at the top ranks of their chosen competitive flux, realize two things: 1) They aren't responsible for your feelings, good or bad. How does that jive with your own athletic self? 2) Your opinion is quite possibly in direct relation to your own body, vitriolic or inspired.
Maybe it's time to shut up and move. Care to join me? Maybe in some pushups...
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