by Why do we love watching sports? I am a software engineer and have been taking rational and logical decisions my entire life. The reason being I know if I do something irrational then something is going to fall apart somewhere. Most of us operate in this manner with the hope that we would be happy at the end if we take life rationally and apply logic to the choices we make. However, happiness is an emotion and not an output of logic. Are we doing it all wrong? Logical operations cannot result in an emotional outcome. For the same reason a robot cannot be happy. Logical life is boring.
Does this means that we all should give up the rules of society and start behaving irrationally and in madness. This would ruin the society for us and future generations. So I believe we need a balance between logic and madness. Some madness is necessary for happiness and fulfilling our mind with love and emotions. Therefore, I decided to deconstruct the love of sports and apply the things which makes sports so satisfying to life. Here they are:
Simplicity
Sports is simple in terms of rules and they apply to everyone doesn’t matter if you are the captain or leader of the team. Rules are strictly enforced and the player who does not abide by the rules would get a yellow card and second time its a red card. Further, its clear which team you are on. In life choosing sides is hard whether its about which political party to support or which company to invest. Further, a lot of rules do not apply to rich and elite of the society. Our brain loves simplicity and we should also thrive in keeping life as simple as possible. You can make your life simple by buying less devices, making simple rules like healthy diet, exercising daily, waking up on time etc.
Tribe
Sports gives a feeling that you belong to a tribe and have a common enemy and goal. In all games, the entire stadium just has 2 clans. Everyone cheers up their teams and clan. In life as well we need to help our tribe, which is our family and friend. Its really satisfying and fulfilling. My mantra is to keep logic aside when it comes to helping friends and family.
Elitist
The athletes in the professional sports are elites. They can do things which 99.99% cannot even attempt to do. We like watching elites and following people who are super successful and good at what they do. Warren Buffet invests in some company, next day everyone is looking for investing in the same stock. In life, we need to try becoming good in whatever we do. Its really satisfying and rewarding.
Unpredictable
Sports is unpredictable, you can put the same teams in contest again on the same turf and result can be anything. This unpredictability keeps us engaged. In life as well we need to learn that its unpredictable and not worry about the end result. We need to give our best.
Go out there and give it all you’ve got
Sports is all about action and getting things done. The athletes on the field give more than 100% and they act on every opportunity which is presented in front of them. They even makes opportunities. This really impresses our mind and makes us feel good about watching a sport. If you take the same strategy of taking action and giving your 100%, you’ll be surprised to see that you are more happy even when you are working harder.
