This past summer, I had the opportunity to go on my first scouting tournament in which college coaches actually came and sat on the sidelines watching my every move. The first couple of games were so stressful. Every time I screwed up on defense, missed that one ground ball, or waited to long to make that assist pass, I could feel their eyes watching me. I would become so stressed in what I was doing wrong that it started to reflect in my playing abilities. My coach eventually pulled me to the sidelines and said, “Hannah, relax, get your act together, and score.” As I returned to the field, my coach gave me a little comforting pat on the back. Following her advice, I took a couple breaths, hyped myself up by jumping a few times, and set up for the draw. Sweat dripping down my face, I reached up for the ball, pivoted left, dodged down the field, and scored. It was my first official goal of the tournament.
Everyday, there are times when one becomes anxious or stressed. It is in these moments that if one takes the time to stop, take a breather and look at life from a third-person point of view before throwing oneself back into the chaos, the results of one of these moments improves. Instead of worrying about the stress, if one actually does something about it by taking it in stride with the experience, it’ll be a lot easier to quell that anxiety. So the next time you find yourself blanking during a test, panicking on the field, or even just worrying about the upcoming class, stop and think to yourself: is this worrying actually helping the situation? Or would it be better to take a quick breather, and then refocus myself with calmed nerves and a better view on the predicament?
I chose the latter. Which one will you choose?
No comments:
Post a Comment