Sport - One of the imparatives of Life
The true character of a human being comes out during adversity. Human beings are as good or bad, as their characters are built. The characters cannot be build overnight. Every stage of one's life has an impact on the psyche of an individual, the environment we grow in, inculcates our behavioral and personality traits and certain characters. One of such character is how to handle defeat.
Depression, arrogance, hatred, jealousy and several other negative aspects of behavior creeps in, or become visible, when we fail. This is due to lack of ability to handle failures. It further halts the progress as an individual. In real life, there are no superheroes. Superheroes are mythical or fictional. And hence, there are no one in real life, who will never face any failure. Thus, the preparation for handling failures or defeat is imperative, same as the preparation for handling success. There is an old saying, "Failure is the stepping stone to Success".
Sport teaches a lot of things, teamwork. leadership skills, patience, being courageous, be a risk takers, acknowledge limitations, respect opponents, fairness, competitiveness. But the biggest contributions of sports in our life is, it makes us more human. Makes us believe that failure is part and parcel of the process. And prepare us for failures. A good sportsman is the one who handles the defeat well.
The best way to learn how to handle defeat, how to handle failures, is just to play any sport ardently. There are stories of warriors, who remained unconquered, but there are no stories of an undefeated sportsman. Mohammad Ali, Usain Bolt, Pelé, Dhyan Chand, Bradman, Tiger Woods, Maradona, Jordan, Jehangir Khan, Kasparov, Sampras, Federer, Williams Sisters, Phelps or Schumacher, name it, and you will find each one of these sportsmen, the greatest players of their respective sports, have failed at some point or other.
Sport also teaches us, that on a given day, you can be the best, you can beat the best, no matter whosoever is your opponent. There are ample examples in the sporting history of upsets, when the low profile players have won, coming over the awe of their greatest opponents. There have been biggest upsets in team sports too. Sports give us the opportunity to reach Zenith of our potential and also opportunity to learn how to handle the biggest failures.
Howbeit, a lot is yet to be done, India is improving on sporting culture. Participation in sports at tender age will inculcate the sporting behavior, infuse leadership qualities, foster team spirit. And the biggest contribution will be, it will prepare the young India to handle failures and move ahead to succeed. It will make youngsters more humane
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