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How to Transform Negative Frustration written by Jon Sanders |
The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. The first law of basketball is that energy is both created and destroyed a multitude of times throughout the course of a season or game.
Coaches get us fired up, but they also drive us crazy. Parents inspire, but they also ruin the atmosphere. Players play hard, but oftentimes play lazily. To maximize your chances of victory, each person on the team (the starters, the bench, the coaches, the fans, and the parents) MUST try their hardest to stick to the laws of nature. If you're mad as a parent, there's no reason to CREATE a scene. If you're sad as a player, that's no reason to DISAPPEAR. And if you feel powerless as a coach, that's no reason to DESTROY anyone else.
Everyone’s frustrated, but there’s no reason not to turn that into positive energy. You’ve got it bundled up inside you anyways, might as well use that force to chase down a random loose ball. You’re frustrated as a parent of a bench player, might as well ask your kid if they want you to rebound for them after the game instead of wasting that energy in a post-game tirade directed at the coach. You’re frustrated as a losing coach, there’s no one stopping you from using that energy to go scout some teams and excitedly prepare some plays and workouts for your players’ next chance.
All I’m saying is that energy is a commodity, one that we take for granted in our usually lackluster lives. We must not waste those few, precious energetic moments doing or saying something destructive. William Arthur Ward once said “ We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.” It’s your choice. As parents, players, coaches, and fans, we only have so many stones. Let’s not throw them at one another, let’s not collectively stumble upon them like regrets, and let’s not complain about them standing in our way. Let us use our frustration as our greatest weapon, so that our enemies fear our weaknesses instead of seeking them out.
And if I’m being too metaphorical: Parents, SHUT-UP and help your kids have fun at the sport they love. Coaches, STEP-UP! and be a positive, undying influence in the lives of these kids. And players, WISE-UP! No one’s conspiring against you or playa’-hatin’ on yo’ game and even if they are, you’re just proving them right by not striving forward with a cool, undying effort.
“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out”. So take a deep breath, and try to creatively realize a way to utilize the very precious energy now flowing within you.
Coaches get us fired up, but they also drive us crazy. Parents inspire, but they also ruin the atmosphere. Players play hard, but oftentimes play lazily. To maximize your chances of victory, each person on the team (the starters, the bench, the coaches, the fans, and the parents) MUST try their hardest to stick to the laws of nature. If you're mad as a parent, there's no reason to CREATE a scene. If you're sad as a player, that's no reason to DISAPPEAR. And if you feel powerless as a coach, that's no reason to DESTROY anyone else.
Everyone’s frustrated, but there’s no reason not to turn that into positive energy. You’ve got it bundled up inside you anyways, might as well use that force to chase down a random loose ball. You’re frustrated as a parent of a bench player, might as well ask your kid if they want you to rebound for them after the game instead of wasting that energy in a post-game tirade directed at the coach. You’re frustrated as a losing coach, there’s no one stopping you from using that energy to go scout some teams and excitedly prepare some plays and workouts for your players’ next chance.
All I’m saying is that energy is a commodity, one that we take for granted in our usually lackluster lives. We must not waste those few, precious energetic moments doing or saying something destructive. William Arthur Ward once said “ We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.” It’s your choice. As parents, players, coaches, and fans, we only have so many stones. Let’s not throw them at one another, let’s not collectively stumble upon them like regrets, and let’s not complain about them standing in our way. Let us use our frustration as our greatest weapon, so that our enemies fear our weaknesses instead of seeking them out.
And if I’m being too metaphorical: Parents, SHUT-UP and help your kids have fun at the sport they love. Coaches, STEP-UP! and be a positive, undying influence in the lives of these kids. And players, WISE-UP! No one’s conspiring against you or playa’-hatin’ on yo’ game and even if they are, you’re just proving them right by not striving forward with a cool, undying effort.
“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out”. So take a deep breath, and try to creatively realize a way to utilize the very precious energy now flowing within you.
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