My family and I had an interesting debate over the weekend about what constitutes a sport and what does not. We tried to come up with a pat definition, but we seemed to find exceptions for every ’sport.’ Wikipedia says, “Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. ” We felt their definition was lacking, so we tried to come up with one of our own…

First definition: A sport requires a goal, a team, and a ball.

We all agreed that basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, hockey, rugby, lacrosse, and soccer are sports. They have a goal, a ball, and a team. But there were some exceptions that didn’t fit into our neat little definition.

Tennis has a ball but not a team. Does that mean it’s not a sport? Since it doesn’t have a ball does that mean boxing isn’t a sport? What about skiing, or skating? Running or track? “Activities,” my son said. “But these events are in the Olympics,” I replied. “So are a lot of games I don’t consider sports,” he retorted.

Is golf a sport? I know it’s hard to do well, but when big, fat guys with cigars can play it without breaking a sweat, is that really a sport? Bowling can’t really be considered a sport, can it? ESPN covers poker as a sport. POKER! That can’t possibly fit anyone’s definition.

Second definition: A sport requires training, a goal, and exertion.

Okay, then dancing must be a sport, right? It requires extreme training and exertion. “No, it’s a performing art.” Hmmm. I guess that might be so. Still, ballroom dancing is a judged event, as is cheerleading. Sports? What about body building? That is definitely an activity that requires pain for gain.

What about ’sports’ involving animals like horseracing? Is race car driving a sport? Bicycling? You can see my dilemma. What are your thoughts? What is a SPORT?

I was born in a small Midwestern town and grew up mostly in the South. So I have pretty down home roots. I’m the first of my family to earn a college degree and most of them never left Missouri. They certainly aren’t woo woo in any way. So when I got this email from my uncle (who actually, along with my grandmother, is one of the most genuinely positive people I know) it brought tears to my eyes. Just thought I’d share. It’s a good reminder!

*EMAIL*

John is the kind of guy you love to hate.   He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’

He was a natural motivator.
 
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
 
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, ‘I don’t get it!’
 
‘You can’t be a positive person all of the time.  How do you do it?’
 
He replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today.  You can choose to be in a good mood or…you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood.’
 
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it.  I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or…I can point out the positive side of life.  I choose the positive side of life.
 
‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.
 
‘Yes, it is,’ he said.  ’Life is all about choices.  When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.  You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people affect your mood.
 
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.  The bottom line:   It’s your choice how you live your life.’
 
I reflected on what he said.  Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business.  We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
 
Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
 
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
 
I saw him about six months after the accident.
 
When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be twins… Wanna see my scars?’
 
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
 
‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied.  ’Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices:  I could choose to live or…I could choose to die.  I chose to live.’
 
‘Weren’t you scared?  Did you lose consciousness?’  I asked.
 
He continued, ‘…the paramedics were great.
 
They kept telling me I was going to be fine.  But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.  In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’.  I knew I needed to take action.’
 
‘What did you do?’ I asked.
 
‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John.  ’She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’  The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.  I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity”
 
Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live.   Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’
 
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude…I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
 
Attitude, after all, is everything.
 
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.’  Matthew 6:34.
 
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

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