So, right on the hells on my post last night, comes the delightful news of PV Sindhu becoming the first Indian Olympian to win two individual medals in consecutive Olympics.
First Mirabai, then Lovlina in boxing, and now Sindhu. There still also hope in the discuss throw, with Kamalpreet storming into the finals with an impressive performance.
The position of the Devi in the Indian pantheon has been paramount for thousands of years, and the women of this country still lead the tribe when it comes to winning honors.
And then there is the Indian hockey team, that came back from a drubbing in match 1 to reach the semi-finals.
Yes, our shooters disappointed, but it’s ok. Manu Bhaker still has a lot of years left in her.
The point is to compete and give it your best. And one day it will happen. When it does, it will open the floodgates for the sport in India, and then hopefully we have more investment of time, effort and money so as to produce world-beating athletes.
And so those who lost out this time, will come back, and then start practice again. What happened is done, when it comes to sport, there is no use thinking about it. One learns from the mistakes made, and tries to improve in the next game. A constant feedback loop of kinds.
Life too, is somewhat similar.
Take new beginnings for instance. Whether we transition from a job, or a relationship, there is always a bittersweet feeling that accompanies a new beginning.
When changing jobs, we don’t realize it until the last day, and then, it kicks in.
A change from the comfort zone, and a leap into the unknown.
Past laurels – employee of the month and year, get reset and you join the new workplace pretty much with a clean slate. A new set of bosses and peers to win over, a new set of clients to deal with…from software to people, a lot of variables.
Like in sport. You win a match, a tournament, but the next day, it is reset. You cannot rest on your past laurels to get ahead, a new beginning comes with a new outlook – training begins from zero and you have to fight to win once again.
And this is why sport is important. It teaches you to reset.
To try new things when you start again, to look forward to new ways of training and learning – it teaches you that you may be the greatest, but if you don’t work hard and train, you will still lose. And badly.
And it also helps you prepare mentally. To let go of the past, and to look forward to the future.
This is what we all struggle to do in life too yes?