So I sit here writing this just after England have been knocked out of the World Cup. I also sit here very indifferent to the result and the fact that as a 52 year old Englishman I’ve always had the major tournament elation and disappointment. So I am, in one respect, not too bothered and feel it’s a rite of passage for the youngsters out there to live the same England fan journey of “not quite good enough’
The annoying thing is we will now have to have a few days of misery and introspection from the press, social media, news channels and anyone who remotely feels they have an opinion.
Now in the 90’s this consisted of maybe 3 channels, a few newspapers and your mates at work. But I know full well tomorrow my social media timeline will be full of anyone and everyone thinking they are an expert and giving us their opinion.
Meanwhile we face the biggest cost of living crisis in our lifetime, fuel poverty and food banks are no longer a shock to us, MP’s can just sit on their backsides on TV for 3 weeks and we are most likely heading towards general strikes due to a lack of a decent wage and wage rises. Or even more likely we could see the right to strike outlawed as well as more draconian measures on legal protest.
So when you feel like giving your opinion on the “football” just maybe take a few seconds to internalise that opinion and think about all those people who would like to have watched the game, had the money to travel, the funds to have a pint in the pub whilst the game was on.
As for the result the Stoics would remind us of the Stoic Archer who despite having the best bow, training hard, the best teacher and the best conditions could still miss the target because the eventual outcome is out of their control. As was the football for you tonight.
The lesson here is not to be invested in the outcome but to realise that despite everything you may have done, the outcome is not in your control.
The hard way to learn to deal with this is to become indifferent to the outcome, the result, the poor referee, the missed penalty.
If you try this along with some perspective on what really matters then it is only a game.
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius
We have seen this quote before but maybe today and in these times it’s more relevant than ever as we have so many distractions that can tempt us away from just being a good person. Maybe it’s time for a bit more cosmopolitanism, as some of the Stoics would put it that we treat everyone as our brother or sister or as if they were part of our family.
As we approach Christmas you can possibly consider this and think how in some small way you can help someone, be kind, small acts of kindness, big acts of kindness, take time to say thank you, give a smile, be nice.
Also don’t be invested in the outcome, if you give a smile and don’t get one back, be indifferent. Consider the other person may have things going on in their life that you know nothing about but also consider your act, your kindness, you smile may make a difference in some small way.
After all that’s all far more important than the scoreline.
Leading into the fire 