SPORTS- SPIRIT FOR LEADING LIFE

Sports are not only a physical activity but are even related to mental progress. People think that sports are only for those who are physically active or for the passionate. In reality, it is not so. Sports are for anyone, irrespective of age, height or any other factors.

Sports teach one many aspects of life such as healthy competition, time sense, accepting second position, practice, importance of physical and mental soundness, hard work, team spirit and mainly, developing a ‘sportive spirit’.

Now I’m sure you are wondering how sports teaches one all the above aspects. Sports teaches it in a very unique fashion:

1. Healthy competition

In sports, all are taught that while participating in any event one must think that all the participants are equally capable. Anyone can come first depending on his hard efforts and practice. So one must not develop any kind of a complex or negative notion towards another.

2. Time sense

An essential aspect which must be learned by everyone from sports is ‘time sense’. Normally people nowadays are least bothered about ‘timing’. You give them a time and they arrive half an hour late or some that are even more casual take their own time. But where sports is concerned timing is a very important factor. A very hard working person can also lose a gold medal by just 2 or 3 seconds. So time sense and its importance are imbibed by individuals in sports.

3. Accepting second position

In today’s world everyone wants to be first. But in this race of coming first people forget that everyone cannot be first. Someone has to be first another, second and so on. Sports make you realize that you are not up to the mark. So now you practice and the next time, you are at the top.

4. Practice

The word ‘practice’ is not at all found in the dictionary of today’s generation. To be perfect or excel, one must practice and keep practicing because as the famous saying goes, “Practice makes man perfect” and so to be perfect one must practice. Hence sports essentially teaches the idea of practice to all.

5. Physical and mental soundness

In today’s techno-sophisticated world people have just given up physical and mental activities. They are totally dependent on modern technology. Sports teaches one to be physically and mentally active by various ways and means such as cardiovascular activity which is very helpful in keeping ones heart healthy. When your heart is healthy you are physically and mentally healthy too. This is just one example.

6. Hard work

Today’s concept of hard work is totally different compared to a few years ago. Now, one wants his/her work to be done but by someone else! In this regard sports are very necessary for one to learn and teach hard work concepts. Then people will realize the importance of hard work and feel a true winning sense.

7. Team spirit

There are many sports like cricket, hockey, football and so on where each and every member is important for winning. This way they start supporting each other for the betterment of the team and it leads to develop a sense of unity and fraternity among members.

8. Sportive spirit

We have often heard people saying, “Come on, be sportive!” or “Have a sportive spirit!” or something similar. ‘Sportive spirit’ means one must be ready to accept whatever the results will be. If you are a participant in any contest and by any chance you lose then you must accept it sportively. It means that you must not take it to heart and be depressed and take some drastic decision such as, “I won’t participate the next time” or “I won’t play” and so on. Instead you must think that the winner has made his stand and you work hard, practice more and at the end the result is in your favour and the prize is all yours.

After all this I would like to add the main benefit that sports gives. Sports brings us near to nature. Today people reside in a concrete jungle where a child hardly sees and feels greenery, enjoys its freshness and many such great, amazing experiences. Today, sports connects us with nature where one feels pleasant, away from the concrete techno-world where one spends life in a very mundane manner and doesn’t experience free will. As Swami Vivekananda says, “Only the free have free will”- it is rightly proved by sports which makes one feel free and fearless.

Manoj I. Jain

Editor-in-chief

III BA (PJoE)