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I am currently playing on two soccer teams and am finding that my physical condition, as well as my touch on the ball, is not nearly as good as it used to be….and I find this very frustrating. I have always been a competitive person….don’t know where exactly that comes from, but it started out very early in life….maybe it’s the whole middle child syndrome. Anyways, I don’t get mad at other people so much, as I get frustrated and angry with myself…especially when it comes to sports. This is definitely something I have been trying to control and work on….I am learning how to enjoy sports more and just sit back and ride the emotions that come with excelling or with defeat. Both can teach a person so much. However, I know what my best is and when I am not competing at that level I begin to pull back from the game and that is not a good thing….there just isn’t time in a soccer game for me to sit out, clear my head, and get myself mentally prepared to return to the game. I know that I shouldn’t analyze every single mistake I make in the game (that would be pointless and would take WAY too much time!), so I am working on simply moving beyond the errors and making myself stay focused on the game itself and not on all the little problems/mistakes that crop up or occur. I mean, if we all played the game perfectly what would even be the point of playing at all? Would there even be a need to play? (I know…just some random questions). Back in high school and even more recently, I would be upset after games (soccer or basketball) and would think and re-live all the different ways certain scenarios could have played out and maybe should have….and I know that I held some resentment towards my teammates for mistakes they made that, in my opinion (looking back I know that none of this was thier fault), cost us the game. However, I am learning to turn these character flaws (if that is even the right word…) over to God and to ask for His help in teaching me when I am letting frustration and anger take control of my emotions and surrendering those emotions to Him. This in turn allows me to act postively and to actually enjoy the game…(there are a lot of parallels I could draw from sports to life, but I’ll save that for another time).
Alright…so me: working on controlling anger, frustration, competitiveness, and self-doubt. Not an easy thing, but getting better. I know that one of the reasons my last relationship ended was because I didn’t like how these feelings were sometimes taking control of me and trying to work at breaking apart the person I was from the person I was/am trying to be…which is more like Christ. I knew that I needed to take some time to focus on my relationship with Christ and working at becoming the person that God intends for me to be (so a lot had to do with spiritual maturity) before I could really contribute spiritually and emotionally to a relationship again.
May God be working in your lives and continue to lead you and inspire you!
Danielle (Dani) King
Some of my favorite verses this week:
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..”
– Philippians 2:14-16
I love the “shine like stars in the universe” part….I hope that I am shining, but I know that I am not always…something else to work on 
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
– 2 Timothy 1:7
I know that I am naturally a shy and timid person, but I have outgrown this to an extent as I have matured and I know that with God’s help I am becoming bolder.
COMMENTS
Scott: Hey Dani, great blog, but you cant blame yourself for 7-1 lost…or was it 8-1? eh, I stopped counting after the sun went down. more comment in your email.
Ryan “Wink”: Hehe! You sound so much like me in this blog it is ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with getting frustrated at yourself for making mistakes because what that really shows is your competitive nature and passion for playing. When it does become a problem is when, like you said, you let the mistakes build up and convince you that you are not the player you truly are. In sports, like in everything, confidence matters. But in my opinion, confidence in oneself does not hold up because you will fail and if you only build upon yourself… well, the often overused parable by Jesus applies where your house is built upon the sand and you are washed away by the tides of your emotions and and the assaults of your imperfection pounding like waves upon your life. Playing sports talking with God, and having your confidence in Him is amazing, trusting the abilities he gave you and enjoying a more relaxed view of life because everything is in perspective, which allows you to have fun and, in turn, play better. I would love to hear those sports analogies as I personally compare everything in life to sports… seeing as it is pretty much the paradigm I see this world through. Cheers, Dani. And odds are in the 8-1 brutalizing your team took was not your fault, or any individual player’s fault for that matter, but an entire team breakdown. One person can’t win a soccer game… or most any other game for that matter (notice I didn’t say “all”). Good luck the rest of this season and post your sports analogies when you get a chance. Keep letting God guide your life… sounds like he is doing a pretty good job!
MY RESPONSE TO COMMENTS:
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Something I have been thinking about a lot lately is knowing when you are hearing God’s voice instead of your own voice/desires or the world’s. This is something that I spend a lot of time wondering about…maybe too much time, which could be where the confusion stems from. I know that God is leading me somewhere (to where…I don’t know…but I trust God with that), and I know that the places He is leading will not always be in my comfort zone, but that is where I will learn and grow the most. But I sometimes wonder if God has the same plan for me that I have for myself or if I am simply following my desires over God’s. I am passionate about several things (God, kids, soccer…to name a few) and I know that God gave me these passions for a purpose, but whether He has the same idea in mind for their use that I do is still unknown. I pray a lot about trusting God and His perfect timing and I ask for help in discerning His voice from all the other noises that I hear and I know that He is in the whisper of the wind…not the raging storm…but I guess I feel like I should have a clearer sense of direction then I do. And maybe that is because I haven’t been trusting God’s will as much as I thought. I know this blog is all over the place, but I am simply trying to express my thoughts about this subject and I would love to hear what other people think about this topic. Have a great week and may God continue to surprise and awe you!
Dani
COMMENTS
I highly recommend Disappointment with God by Phillip Yancey
Yesterday was the semi-final game for my soccer team. We went into the game knowing that it wouldn’t be an easy win, but definitely a team we could beat. And we dominated the entire game…okay, most of the game. We fired shot after shot on their keeper, but everything seemed to go just wide or high of the goal. It was like there was a lid/curtain covering the goal that repelled everything we sent at it. By half-time, we were frustrated with the 0-0 score, but knew there was still another 45minutes left to pull out a win. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We played hard, tempers flared, and people were knocked to the ground…hard! (this would include me…who for some reason cannot avoid having at least one hard collision a game…but I like it that way). Despite our best efforts, the game remained tied. This meant that we had to go into overtime, which consisted of ten minutes (non-stop) with the golden goal to win it. The ten minutes seemed to fly by and I believe the ref called it at 5. Anyway, with still no score we went to a shoot-out. It had to go girl-guy for the order (so 2 guys shot and 3 girls). My team selected me to go first. I was nervous, but told myself I could do. I mean, I used to make PK’s in my sleep. However, I missed….shot the ball to the keeper’s right, but he dove for it and saved it. I was upset at myself to put it mildly. That is the second PK I have missed this season! Anyway, the other team also missed, which was good for us. Then we made it (they made it too). And we missed (they missed too). And we made it and made it again(as did the other team). It looked like our other 5 players were going to have to take their turn, but at almost the exact moment that the opposing team’s 5th player turned around shouting for joy (after burying her PK in the back of the net) the stadium lights turned off. It was 11pm by this point, so we couldn’t finish the shoot-out in the dark. So now we have to play our 10 minute overtime again next Wednesday, and the winner will play immediately following at 7:30. As if the 100 minutes of soccer we played last night wasn’t enough! All I know is that I will be hitting the soccer fields on Saturday and working on my shots…but definitely on my PK shot!!
Hoping all goes well,
Elle
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Okay…so all did not go well! :( Several of my teammates (myself included) arrived to the field – Grasslawn if you were wondering – about 30 minutes prior to our 10 minute re-enactment or second overtime. We were all dressed in black shirts, white shorts, and black socks (some white socks). All this was done to look intimidating to the opposing team. Anyways, once all the cleats were on we headed out to the turf to work on our shots, particularly PK’s. After much instruction from our older, and much wiser, teammate Bob, we all felt fairly well prepared for a possible shoot-out. Of course, we were quite confident that it would not happen because we were going to score on the golden goal. Both teams lined up…stare downs occurred…it was very dramatic…much like a Western movie…anyways, the whistle blew and the game had begun. However, no sooner than the game started the whistle blew, signaling the end of our ten minute overtime. Since no team had scored it was on to another shoot-out. Fortunately, it was 7pm, so we did not have to worry about the stadium lights shutting off on us again. I went first for my team (again). I won’t lie and say I wasn’t nervous…because I was. But I approached the ball, took about 6 steps back from the ball, and ran on at an angle. The goalie dove to the right, but my shot went left and in. What a relief that was for me. Now it was up to the rest of my teammates. After 2 rotations, we were tied 2-2 on PK’s. Crimson Green’s third player went out to shoot, but missed. Here was our chance to take the lead and put on the pressure. However, that did not happen. Their keeper saved our girl’s shot. Then Crimson Green scored again, making the PK score 2-3 (us with 2). Scott was up. Unfortunately he over corrected his shot when he saw the keeper move to the right and ended up completely missing the goal. But the ball did skim beautifully over the turf . We could only hope their next player missed her shot. She did. Now we needed to make our next shot to tie it or the game was over. Sadly, that did not happen. It was tough to lose this semi-final game, but at least there is next season. Oh, and we were able to go to Canyon’s for dinner and drinks afterwards to drown our sorrows in strawberry lemonade or beer…depending on your preference. So that was fun.
Here’s to next season!
-Elle
