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I had always been one of the smaller kids in my class throughout
grade school. In fact, it wasn't until my ninth grade growth spurt
that I finally towered over the giants that are my mother and
sister, standing five feet, two inches and five feet, no inches
tall, respectively.
To say my size irked me would
be an understatement. Besides for being physically irregular
(read: the size of an action figure), I was also painfully
shy by nature, and the lack of attention from my peers didn't
improve the situation.
These factors, plus the lack
of any male siblings to have a catch with, made it nearly
impossible for me to get my fair chance at sports. For me,
being out of the
sports world meant sitting on
the sidelines in friendships as well.
As time went on, I realized that
not only were there other kids who didn't like or weren't
good at sports, but that they also felt like they were the
only ones in the world. Until they met me.
I'm sure many of you out there
are well aware that you aren't too good at sports, but you
aren't quite sure what to do about it. The first step, which
is admittedly not simple, is to put everything into perspective.
Although sports seem to be occupying
a lot of the time of the guys around you, this is not necessarily
all positive, or something that we should aspire to.
The best example of the stereotypical
jock is "Reggie" from the Archie Comics. He is not
innately bad, but he comes across very intimidating. He's
not really even good at anything besides for sports, but when
too much importance is given to sports, egos grow exceptionally
large and feelings always get hurt.
The truth is that it isn't only
the jocks that overrate sports. The sportswear ad campaigns
and high adrenaline sports movies produced by our society
don't help dispel this way of thinking. Most guys who take
sports very seriously only rave about "last night's game"
and their "amazing play" because they have nothing
else noteworthy to say about themselves. But maybe you do.
It's true that playing sports
promotes teamwork, teaches discipline, and builds your body
physically, but if you're just not good at the game, it is
no reason to be looked down upon, and no reason to look down
upon yourself.
That said, be sure to get some
fresh air. Get involved in sports that you can do by yourself
without the pressures of competition, like running and weight
lifting. Everyone should try to be fit and healthy. Besides,
you might surprise yourself, as well as your peers, when you
see what athletic ability you do have.
GET
A LIFE WITH SOMETHING ELSE
Finding other interests and discovering
your other talents is key when trying to get yourself out
of the "non-sportsman rut". In my case, I noticed
that while I wasn't terrible at baseball and I enjoyed watching
sports on TV, music and comedy and writing were much more
my bag, baby.
When listening to and playing
music and joking around with my friends, my confidence soared
to new heights. Instead of seeing sports as a goal that I
was failing to reach, I viewed it as just another activity
that I opted not to get interested in. When approaching sports
in this way, I felt a lot less self-conscious around the guys
who lived for sports.
So get on it! Unless you figure
out what it is that you are interested in and follow it, nothing
is going to change. Usually people will search for confident
and collected people to befriend and balance out whatever
uncertainties they are dealing with. Therefore, if you are
struggling to solidify who you are, you won't be a hot prospect
in the friendship draft.
The next step is keeping friends
once you have them. Sports will be an issue until the end
of time, and there will always be those who taunt you and
your friends for not being as involved in sports as they are.
But the solution to this problem is a lot simpler than it
seems. As long as you don't ever regret who you choose to
befriend and don't care who thinks you're "cool"
(this includes girls), you will eventually diminish the taunting,
as well as stop caring so much yourself.
After a while, it just won't
be any fun picking on you if you don't react, and you will
be respected for keeping your cool and not trying to be someone
you're not. Strangely enough, many people try to figure out
who you are by taunting you and seeing if they can get under
your skin, but as long as you stay true to yourself, you'll
pass their twisted tests with flying colors.
You hate it when your mother
tells you to "Just be yourself", but the truth is
that she's right. (I won't tell your mother if you don't tell
mine.)
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