Lessons From Losing the World Series

Do you give up too soon? On your sports team? On yourself? Sadly, I learned last night that many people do…

The Philadelphia Phillies lost the World Series last night to the New York Yankees. It was a sad day for Philadelphians who were truly hoping for back to back work championships from the fightin’ Phils.

(Note to you Phillies fans so despondent over the loss that you are thinking of doing something stupid. read my post on the joys of being a sports hypocrite and let it go…)

I was disappointed to see the Phillies lose, but I was way more disappointed to read some of the Twitter and Facebook updates of fellow Phillies fans during the game. People were throwing in the towel while there was still plenty of game to be played.

In the third inning, with the Phillies down 4 to 1, someone Tweeted, “this game is over.” What?? There are nine innings in a baseball game. Nine long innings. A three run deficit with more than half the game to go is by no means insurmountable. Why the defeatist attitude?

You may say, “well I could tell by the way that they were playing that there was no way the Phils would win.” Perhaps. But you never know. That’s why they play all nine innings in baseball, the full 60 minutes in football, and all four quarters in basketball. ‘Cause the game ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Not much later, in the fifth inning, more people were posting status updates on how the Phillies were done. These were Phillies’ fans, mind you.

I know that in Philly it is pretty much the norm to boo or give up on your team when things are not going well. And frankly, I don’t care how exactly you choose to be a sports fan. My philosophy has always been that as long as there is game left to be played, there is hope. It may be slim, but there is always hope. You have to keep playing (and rooting) every second of every game.

The thing I really do care about, though, is how this attitude of giving up way too early when things go bad spills over into other areas of life. If you want to be a pessimistic sports fan, that’s one thing. But if you approach life with the same pessimism, well, that just sucks.

Here are three questions to see if “sports pessimism” is affecting other areas of your life.:

Do You Give Up Too Soon?

This is the real danger. Things get tough, so you give up. I recently posted an article about the importance of letting things go. Letting go is very different from giving up.

Things are never going to go 100% perfectly, and if something is truly worth doing, you will encounter obstacles along the way. If you throw in the towel at the first sign of trouble, you’ll never accomplish anything of note.

Do You Hold Back to “Not Get Your Hopes Up?”

This is a common attitude sports fans have. Especially Philadelphia fans, as we have encountered a lot of disappointment over the years. The funny thing is, our pain comes not from getting our hopes up, but in how we choose to respond when those hopes get smashed.

Yes, it is a choice! You can wallow in misery when things don’t work out, lamenting your own stupidity for getting your hopes up, or you can say, “whatever,” let it go, and commit to moving on the next game, project, opportunity, etc.

Getting your hopes up is a good thing! Increased hope leads to nervous energy, more fun and creativity, greater willingness to take risks, and a positive energy that can drive you forward. These are all things that can help you achieve your goals. Keeping your hopes low makes you hesitant, slow, and pessimistic. Not qualities of high achievers.

So get your hopes up, just develop and practice positive ways of dealing with disappointment when things don’t work out.

Do You Waste Time and Energy Being Negative Because it’s “Realistic?”

My favorite. Of course the Phillies doubters are reading this post thinking I am an idiot because they turned out to be “right.” Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But at the moment they expressed their defeat, they had no way of knowing how the game would turn out.

Here’s an interesting fact from a study done by Martin Seligman: Negative people are more realistic. They see things more accurately as they are than positive people. But the study also shows that Positive people are more successful and happier than their negative counterparts.

So, would you rather be realistic or happy and successful?

If you have trouble answering that question, step away from the computer, call a friend, and go have some fun – you sorely need it!

Life is too short to spend even one minute of it unnecessarily in a bad mood. Life will throw enough real curveballs your way; you don’t need to waste time and energy getting worked up over stupid things.

I take great pride in my ridiculous sports optimism. I have cheered on my basketball team even when they are down by 20 points with four minutes left to play. Why not?? What am I losing by doing this? Nothing. What am I gaining? Fun. Positive energy. Low blood pressure. All good things.

Realistic expectations have their place. You don’t want to go mortgage the house on some crazy business idea just because you are “thinking positive.” But in many situations, especially the day to day ones, you are doing yourself a disservice and wasting your precious life energy if you choose to take a “realistic” and negative approach.

The next time you’re watching a sports game and your team is losing badly, hold on to hope and keep cheering, even if it seems stupid. And the next time you are out there trying to achieve something and you encounter an obstacles, keep your hopes up and don’t give up. That may very well be the key to your success.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go prepare to cheer my Eagles on their way to yet another NFC Championship game…