Now I'm going to try and relate my everyday life and fit faith and justice into it. Shouldn't be too difficult? The most obvious thing I did religiously today was go to church at 9:00 am. I'm going to be honest though. I don't attend Mass every Sunday or what I should. So when I say I attended Mass on Sunday I sort of feel like I'm bragging.
It's like I'm bragging that I shot 50% and forgetting to mention I shot twice and one of the shots was an air ball. So I will set a goal for myself which is to attend Mass on Sunday on every Sunday during Lent. Why stop there? Well, in my mind its shorter than the rest of my life and a much more realistic goal. I have to trick my mind that I only go to Mass for x amount of weeks and then I will have done my job. But once I'm done with my set goal, I'll trick my mind again. This is neither ideal nor right, but until it becomes an instinct, for lack of a better word, I will continue to do this.
I found a new, interesting viewpoint on sports. Sports is admittedly my whole life. I watch it, I write about it, and I obsess over it. But never in my life have I taken a religious view on sports. Religion and sports? Those don't fit together. But in one aspect they do and this can be covered in one word: patience.
I have a great example that exactly happened in my CYC basketball game tonight. Referees sometimes miss calls, sometimes I think they miss a call when they don't, and sometimes they get it right. Rarely are referees ever praised for their job, because making the right call is expected. To use an analogy, a referee is like a relief pitcher: its better if a fan doesn't know your name.
Anyway, this particular referee, I know for a fact (I think), was a poor one. Sometimes, you just have to take a deep breath, realize its just CYC basketball, and keep playing. I do this 99% of the time while the other 1% I'm muttering or making a "shocked" face. But I never complain to a referee. Otherwise, I'd be a HUGE hypocrite considering I HATE players who spend half the time complaining to referees. PLAY THE GAME.
These referees were more difficult to follow this policy. I muttered or made a face at least 4 times which is about 4 times over my regular limit. (To be fair, they did call a travel on a player on my team who did not even have ball, a foul on a player who just jumped to block but did not touch, and called over the back on a player who had a guy hanging on his back.... Just saying). Sometimes, I have to put sports into perspective and the best way to do this is think of faith.
When you need to obtain patience, step back and take a deep breath, not only in sports but in life. Then think, "Is this really that important in the big picture?" I'm going to take a guess that 9 times out of 10, your answer is no. And even some of that 1 out of 10 probably are lying when they say yes.
Another factor of patience in sports is controlling yourself. If you're mad at another player because they are dirty or are smack talking, just shut your mouth and show them up on the field. Most guys who talk smack need to compensate for a lack of talent and try and get in your head. So by ignoring it, it helps you a LOT more than if you let it get to you.
And I've always wondered one thing. I took a nap for about 45 minutes after Mass today and was extremely crabby when my Dad woke me up. I was not a nice person for 15 minutes and when I realized how crabby I was (which by the way, was a littttle obvious), I immediately regretted what I did over those 15 minutes. How responsible am I for those 15 minutes and how do I control that?
I'm pretty sure I am completely responsible but I have absolutely no idea how I am supposed to change that. When your crabby, you're crabby. You don't care if you're being mean because for some reason you feel cheated. How do I change that? Maybe just avoid everybody for those 15 minutes.
But that's such a boring and bland answer that does not suit me. And I'm guessing if I'm crabby, once again I could really care less about other people's feelings. I think I should get in the tendency to wake up, check to see if I'm crabby or will be crabby (and most of the time I can tell). If I'm crabby and realize it, normally I think I will be ok and my main goal will be to get it out of me. The problem at least for me, is when I don't realize I'm crabby because then I have no idea that I will insult people.
That's enough rambling for me. I will focus more on religion next time when I grasp how to write these religious blogs.
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