If you started playing sports when you were a kid then you know that you didn’t just walk out on to the court or field or track knowing how to do everything that the sport entailed. There was a lot of practice involved and there were also a lot of mistakes made not only by you, but by your teammates as well. And even though you were learning to play this new sport, you also probably had fun doing it. Even though you dribbled the ball with both hands, accidentally kicked the ball to the other player, and ran around the hurdles instead of over them, you still enjoyed playing your sport for the sake of playing your sport, and win or lose you still went out there after the game and high fived the hands of all the players, and when you said good game you really meant it. It didn’t matter that much if you won or lost the game because all you really cared about was getting to go out there and play.

However, if you decided to stick with that sport when you got older more of an emphasis was placed on wining. Your coach might have yelled at you if you missed intercepting the ball that was inches away from you, which led to the opposing team scoring a touch down. Your teammates might have become frustrated if you let your defender slip by you and drive the ball to the hoop. Or your parents might have groaned if you accidently dropped the ball out of your glove as the person on the opposite team ran through home plate. As you got older the sport you played became less about having fun and more about wining.

If you think about it positive thinker, sports would be a lot different if we didn’t keep score. If soccer players didn’t count every goal they made, if football players failed to keep track of every touchdown that was completed, if basketball players didn’t tally every shot made, and if baseball players didn’t add up all of the times each player crossed home plate then maybe the players might end up having some more fun when they played.

Flagrant fouls are given and red flags are thrown because players become so focused on winning that they are willing to put the well being of another human being on the line just so that they can win a game. The opposing players become obstacles that the players need to get through in order to win, and some players are willing to do whatever is necessary to those obstacles in order to win the game.

Life can be like playing sports sometimes too. When we were younger, life was fun and we enjoyed living it, but as we got older people started to become competition and we started to think that we needed to defeat our competition in order for us to win at life. We become so wrapped up in trying to become successful and in making something of ourselves that we are willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means hurting other people in the process. And sometimes we get so wrapped up on the goals that we have set for ourselves that it becomes all that we can focus on. We may even eventually stop taking the time to enjoy the things in life that really bring us some semblance of happiness because all that starts to matter is beating the other teams.

Many times we want to make sure that the other teams lose when that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Unlike in sports, the game of life doesn’t necessarily have to have winners and losers. We can all be winners if we’re living the life that makes us happy and that brings us the most joy and positivity. We don’t have to go around making sure other people lose the game because it’s possible for everyone to be winners.

If you take a look up at the scoreboard right now and see that someone else is beating you, don’t give up hope just yet. It doesn’t automatically mean that you’re losing the game. If you are happy with the points that you see up on the board then you are winning. And if you’re not happy with the score that you’re seeing, don’t worry because as long as you have air in your lungs and a heart that beats there will still be time left in the game for you to score as many points as you need to score to make the game count.

It shouldn’t matter if you win or lose positive thinkers. All that matters is that you enjoy playing the game!