A common man's story of Passion
One hot evening in CLUB HEAT they carried him up onto the roof of the city leisure centre, from there he could look out over the top of the town. There were players leaving their homes and in some cases the dingiest bars in town. In the sky were starlings and crows. It smelt of hunger. After a while it got dark and the searchlights came out but they weren't searching for the teams. They were already here, waiting to commence battle in the light and furnace of competition. Some others went down and took bottles with them. On the Balcony you could hear them below. Yelling, screaming, winning, losing. At home girlfriends waited and somewhere she ‘the other one’ sat on the bed. She was cool and fresh in the hot night.
We did this week after week. Night after night. Even when life got cold it was searing with pain in here. It was good she poured water on him and down herself. He was glad to let her.
When they prepared for a game they would joke and be serious. No-one knew exactly why. Perhaps it was the tension. Were they friends or enemies. Sometimes they were both. If you beat them or lost it made no difference. Sometimes you have to hate to win.
He went under the anesthetic of battle holding tight on to himself so he would not blab about anything during the silly, talky time. He never regretted what he said or did but he made sure to hold tight. Never surrender. Lose. But never surrender. He would think to himself; How to be a man. How to be a winner.
He thought about injury sometimes. Crutches, he could see himself hobbling. If you took his temperature it would be high. Hopefully, if he was injured there was always ‘the one’, to take care of him. Everyone was scared of losing. Some thought more about injury. Losing is like injury in the searchlights. Everyone thought about it anyhow. Maybe he didn't have to think about anything. It would be better if he didn't.
Before the second half he prayed. It was dim and quiet, if he listened there were other people praying. They wanted to do better, but there was not enough time some thought. They didn't have the speed or the skill. None of them looked around. They didn't have the balls. They felt as though they were married, but they wanted everyone to know about it, and to make it so that if they lost they were just family men. Really, they wanted to win and be with ‘the one’. But it was a good story.
‘The one’ wrote him many letters that he never got until the end of the season. Fifteen came in a bunch after he had lost the cup final with his buddies. Still, he sorted them by the dates and read them all straight through. They were all about winning in life, and making love to her, it made him think about Football. He thought about love and sex and how much he couldn't get along without the passion of Friday or Sunday evenings. Missing the football was like missing her. Somewhere among the city streets She cried.
After the game they agreed he should go home and rest. He couldn't. Maybe he didn't want to.
She would not come home until he had a good job or at least won more than he lost. Even winning wasn't a guarantee. Penalties, like wolves turn up at unexpected times. He would like to meet a wolf. And score a winning goal every other week. Success could be boring too he thought. It was understood he would not drink, and he did not want to see his friends or anyone if he played really bad. He did drink. Then he thought about everything. Even her. It was easier like this. Losing has rewards.
On the pitch every week or so they quarreled about one another not being willing to work hard enough. At home he would quarrel about the same thing. He wished he was being paid for what he loved. When they parted after a game it was like saying goodbye to her at the station. They still felt the quarrel long into the night. He felt bad about that. But he couldn't stop the train steaming in again.
Next week It was lonely and rainy on the way to the game. Club HEAT would make it lonely and sticky. What's new he thought. Living in the muddy, rainy town in the winter, it was a relief to play your football indoors. Perhaps other people were making love to her. Football is a cruel mistress. Finally he would get another letter saying he was a boy and not a man.
She was sorry, and she knew he would probably not be able to understand, but might some day forgive her, and be grateful to her. Yeah right, he would think. He would later wonder if any girl was better than football. She had believed in him when he hadn't believed in himself. Now she was gone. One of the letters would say she still believed in him and hoped he would do well next year in the league. As usual women made no sense. For that matter… A season or two later he would think that maybe it was for the best.
After a few seasons at CLUB HEAT he forgot her most days. Then he heard she had become a prostitute in Bristol. A short time after he contracted gonorrhoea from a waitress he met in Pizza Hut. It worked out the same he thought.
The fable of the uncommitted
A Footballer was looking for a new team. He had played for a good number of seasons and for several teams. One day when he saw a new team, and mistaking it for a good and nice team, made plans to join them. The new team eventually couldn't get enough players, and had to withdraw from the league. The Footballer thought to himself. Its a good job I never joined or I would have lost all my friends and not had a ball to kick .
Psychology Corner
The Power of Imagination - The Ideal Self
There are 3 laws in psychology that are particularly useful in developing motivational ideas and images in your mind:
1. The law of reversed effect
When the will and the imagination come into conflict, the imagination always wins.
The classic example of this is 'walking the plank'. If I was to place a rigid plank of wood on the floor and asked you to walk along it, you would have no problem doing so. If I then placed that plank with each end on a table and asked you to walk along it, you could probably do that too, though more carefully. If, finally, I placed that plank ten floors up across an alley between two buildings you probably wouldn't even attempt it, though the task was the same. See how our attitude changes when we play a team in good form to one in bad form.
2. The law of concentrated attention.
When spontaneous attention is concentrated on an idea, the idea tends to realise itself. This is tricky because it means that there has to be some momentum created. You can realise this effect when for example you are lying in bed with the mistress and you suddenly realise the girlfriend is due back in half an hour.
3. The law of dominant effect.
Attaching an emotion to a suggestion makes it more effective. As above. She is gunna kill me and I will lose the house and sky sports.
You need to get your imagination working powerfully on your behalf. You need to create a strong mental image of your ideal self (imagine you are The President or mark Quinn), others imagine they are Zidane. Bring this image to mind as often as you can so that you remain focused on it. This activates your subconscious.
You need to really believe and feel the experiences that you imagine. If you can make your ideal self as vivid as possible the human mind can have a hard time distinguishing between reality and fiction. You're in Madrid. In the Bernabau and its beautiful and hot. You feel like a God. Fit ,agile, totally in control of the ball. You could run for hours. You are enjoying yourself
The best way to do this is to imagine your ideal self in as much detail as possible; how you look; how you act; what you sound like; how you dress; your friends and associates; where you live. Make vivid images. See yourself being successful and enjoying the fruits of your success.
Create a short movie clip of yourself in the future. You are standing in line with the greatest team in the world. Crowd loves you. You can do no wrong. You have loads of ability and everyone respects you. run this film over and over in techicolour with sound and smells as often as you can so that it is firmly embedded in your mind.
1. Create an image of your ideal self.
2. Make it bright, colorful, vivid, close-up, and full of action.
3. Add sounds and feelings. Build it into a short movie.
4. Become emotionally involved in the scene. See yourself being hugged and kissed by the CEO after you leave the pitch
5. Replay the short movie as often as you can, at least on a daily basis.
