Mental Strength

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

I am not a happy loser. In fact I cannot stand losing. What is even worse is when it is to a rival, in this case Chicago. Seeing the loss with fellow Columbus fanatics  in Chicago seemed like a major loss at a casino. The amount of time and money invested on travel food and fuel did not have a positive return on investment. A few things made me upset on the field (losing to a team that was down a player for most of the second half) and off the field. It was the off the field antics that to be honest has been a culmination of things that I let build up inside me that basically led me to giving up my dreams and aspirations. These things that I and some other have been a bit disturbed about have been the following:

• Lack of cohesion between songs/chants and drums
• Lack of a more organized manner i.e. a capo system that the more successful support sections in the league have.
• Lack of open-mindedness to creative and fresh ideas.
• Lack of evolving mentalities, meaning, those that continue to settle for less than best, and those who with blind faith and stagnant opinions on current culture in the section.
• The treating the supporter section as a bar, frat house, and social club as opposed to giving 100% support to the team. Alcohol ruling over cognizant support for the team.

Enter the serenity prayer, and I have come to realize that this is what I personally have to be about. Self-stress is never a good thing for healthy living. I cannot change the section on my own, and well, cannot change differing mentalities. Really, I should not look to change people in general because we as humans are different and having a utopia is not going to happen anyhow.   It is okay to have various viewpoints on how to support a team, and as tough as it is for me to accept still, I should not expect the whole section to have more edge and aggro in the manner of support (although I do dream that the ante is raised up for all minutes of every match).   The serenity mentions of having the courage to change the things that I can change. So in this instance, I can change my own attitude for the better meaning that I can increase my own manner of support and show people that hey, it is okay to be insane for this team. I can change my sour attitude even after a loss because staying bitter for days, albeit a human trait at times, cannot be allowed to linger. I mus adapt and overcome.