Jenna Wynes- A Lesson on Positivity

 Reflecting on my time as a student athlete, I have learned numerous life lessons that I consider to be the most important part of my development. With the infinite highs and lows of competition, I gained perspective that has shaped my character and influenced the way I approach various aspects of my life. Sports not only taught me structure and responsibility for my health, but has provided me with the opportunity to build my mental strength and become more conscious of my thoughts. Volleyball has taught me the value of positivity in the face of internal and external adversity. Our words have power. They impact others, but they also impact us. This means that when we make a mistake and think lowly of ourselves, it is extremely harmful to your confidence levels. As a young athlete, I used to say things like “Why can’t I just stop messing up?” or “I’m an idiot for missing that pass” which caused me to revert into myself and be consumed by my anxiety and anger. Later, towards the end of my highschool career, I learned the importance of positive self speech. I learned that by changing my perspective to invoke the mantra of optimistic internal dialogue to face challenges I could transform my confidence on and off the court. This allowed me to become a happier and more empathetic person. It also taught me to learn to win with humility and lose with grace by appreciating the hard work and determination it takes to compete and surrounding myself with knowledgeable and positive coaches and peers. I began to love sports and cherish the time spent with my peers, flourishing with confidence and genuine personal growth.Additionally, maintaining respect for teammates, opponents, and officials through all levels of play, became easier through the years of being on both sides of the success stories. Since I learned to play the games for my own improvement and enjoyment, they became less about winning and more about experiencing the different strategies and levels of play. These experiences, coupled with guidance from my family, coaches, and teammates, facilitated my development as an athlete and individual. As I continue my journey, exchanging the courts for office buildings, I carry these lessons with me to all principles of my life.

Overall, life is too long to get stuck on the little things. You will find more enjoyment if you forgive yourself for mistakes and begin treating yourself as you treat your valued peers and family, with respect and understanding

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kip Redick Example of a Blog Post

 Page 4 Michael Taussig would suggest Juan's understanding of the meaning of a place emerges out of the process of an imitation of all the “differences” that we discern there. We mimic (in language and action) the full range of sounds, movements, and other sensory perceptions that come to us from the more than human world.” It’s hard to put a place that strikes us as sublime into mere words; we can try to describe it as a feeling and try to put language to that feeling, but sometimes the feeling of the beauty of nature or the power of a sacred space is too big to try to translate or make sense of. Would every place and experience be subjective, and would the discourse be the same? Would the mountain top make me feel the same as another? Or does my personal experience with the natural world and divine keep it intimate/ unique, or would my experience be relatable enough? The author uses the messiness, ambiguity, and mystery of people's deeply personal experience of ...
Read more

Rose Baker - Herbert's "Dune" and Martyrs

  In class, we talked about Jesus and Christianity as an example of myth. Myths and martyrs are dangerous to systems of control because even if they’re suppressed, they can survive and grow stronger. They last because they’re tied to belief, memory, and emotion---things you can’t fully erase. That’s what makes them more powerful than systems built on forced order or control. Even though much of the early church died gruesome deaths, and were consistently ordered to stop spreading the gospel, the "myth" of Jesus has continued for over 2000 years.      In Frank Herbert's  Dune , we see something similar. The Bene Gesserit know how powerful myths can be, and instead of waiting for one to form naturally, they build one on purpose. Through the Missionaria Protectiva , they plant stories and prophecies across different cultures, preparing the world for someone to fulfill the one part they can't fabricate, the living, breathing "savior" who must be visible and prov...
Read more

Joanah Eresechima - Blue Lock's Exploration of Flow

In the sixth chapter of American Camino , the concept of flow is extensively explained in the context of spiritual walking. It is described as unification of action and awareness to create a state in which thoughts are non-existent. The hiker just moves through the world, extremely aware and focused on the wilderness around them but unable to thoroughly reflect on it in that moment. It is only afterwards that the hiker is able to recall the memories from their flow state. Flow can occur in different types of people like artists, scientists and athletes (Redick 249). I was actually very surprised to see this term in the book because it becomes one of the central components in a manga I read called Blue Lock. The story followed a boy named Isagi Yoichi, a high school soccer player who got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a soccer program called Blue Lock meant to create the greatest striker in the world. Out of 300 players, he was ranked 299 th , making him one of the weakest p...
Read more