“Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.”

-Rocky Balboa

Bloganuary writing prompt
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

Hello again. Being the mother of a teenage son, it’s impossible to get out of watching a sport. In my case, it’s soccer. My son has always loved soccer. I used to kick the ball around with him in the evenings when he was still a preschooler. We both used to love it. We would take turns playing goalkeeper, and it killed him that we were playing on tar because he couldn’t dive for the ball. We have a foam sleeper couch in the lounge, so he used to pull that out and practice his dives on there. Naturally, his first position on a soccer team at age 7 was as a goalkeeper. He now plays defensive or midfield positions.

Next was wrestling. WWE, to be exact. I didn’t mind, as I used to love watching wrestling with my dad as a kid. I also watched boxing with my dad back then. We would be up at 3 am or so to watch a Sugar Ray Leonard or Marvelous Marvin Hagler fight in Vegas. I loved spending that time with my dad. My son and his friend used to practice their wrestling moves on that sleeper coach. Thank goodness it was just foam. It really went through the works…lol.

Next up was F1. My son discovered Drive to Survive on Netflix, and the next thing you know, we were both hooked. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. Today, we are avid Mercedes fans. I am praying that the team pulls out an amazing car this year that enables Hamilton’s 8th (or shall we say 9th because he won “that” Abu Dhabi race…). I enjoy following the various strategies and my mind is blown at the level of precision required and all of the elements that need to be managed to win a race. This year my would like to attend a race. We will have to see what the bank account says. 😅. He is already being spoilt by his grandfather and will be watching a Liverpool match at Anfield with him, so maybe we should hold off on an F1 race for another year or two.

My favourite sports to watch are athletics, swimming and tennis. I guess it is because they are individual sports, and I am in awe of the grace with which these athletes perform. These sports also have easy rules to understand. I mean, I still don’t understand the offside rule in soccer😂. Tennis was one of my mother’s favourite sports to watch, and I always watched it with her. She loved Wimbledon. She also loved watching the Comrades. Every year, without fail, she watched the race from the start until the men’s and ladies’ winners came in. Then she would check who made the silver cut-off and then watch the last half hour of the race. She would scream for those people who were limping to the finish and may not make the cut-off. That half hour is the most amazing period in the race because everyone is behind those runners who are trying to beat the gun. It doesn’t matter if you are cheering from home or the stadium; what mattered was that you were “willing” those runners to the finish line with your energy. I cannot describe the feeling.

I have done long-distance running, played netball, and swam at school, but all before puberty hit. Thereafter I lost interest in sport. I did enjoy it at the time, though.

What sports do you watch or play and why?

Thanks for popping by! Be Blessed.

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” — Paulo Coelho

Bloganuary writing prompt
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?

I have read this prompt over and over and I keep asking myself if people have negative examples of where they have felt love? Anyway…I feel loved every day and I only realised this while contemplating a response to this prompt. I don’t think i have ever felt unloved. I have felt unappreciated and perhaps like my presence is unwanted in certain spaces (as can happen), but I have never felt unloved.

Throughout my life, I have been the apple of my dad’s eye. Knowing this, I never had reason to question whether I was loved or not. Knowing that I am loved by someone and, more recently, understanding and accepting that I am loved unconditionally by God has ensured that I don’t need to seek love anywhere. For this, I am eternally grateful, as I know that not everyone has this experience in life. I do find that I have a need to be seen, appreciated and respected. 

There are quite a few ways that this can happen that works for me. An example would be when someone acknowledges something that I have said. It doesn’t matter whether they agree with me or not; what matters is that they hear me. I don’t know why, but that is very important to me. I guess if I looked at my life through the lens of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the bottom three rungs are taken care of (physiological, safety and security, love and belonging), and I tend to look to others to take care of some of my esteem needs, in particular, recognition and respect. 

I am actually blown away that this has been quite an insightful little exercise. I think I have discovered something important about myself! Whadda you know! 🤪 I must admit that until this moment, I hadn’t quite been able to internalise the quote from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Now, I can finally say, “I get it.” 😊

Image: Created on Canva

What insights did you come up with when you contemplated this question?

Thanks for stopping by. Be blessed.

Nostalgia…

Daily writing prompt
Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

Hello there! Day 10 of Bloganuary already! Time is flying.

I wrote a post on a similar topic last year and, to be honest, I don’t think I have anything to add or I can top it so here is the link to it: My Favourite Toy…Once upon a time

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing that post. 

Image: Canva

Thanks for popping by. Be Blessed!