Earlier this year, I started playing netball (a sport I hadn’t played for nearly 10 years)….and I love it. It has been positive for me in a number of ways;
- I played netball when I was younger, but since I’d had my children I felt I didn’t have the time to pick it back up as I hadn’t the time to commit to training/games, I worried I’d lost my skills and would let my team down, was too old, covid happened etc etc….. I could easily convince myself about the myriad of reasons (excuses) for not doing it, so I ended up not doing it.
- Taking the first step was the hardest – a call was put out on Facebook for anyone interested to come along to a taster session. As someone who is shy and nervous about going into new situations, it would have been easy for me to talk myself out of it (as I tend to do – see above!). However, once I was there, I didn’t look back. A lot’s been written about the positive mental health benefits of sport and I feel these from playing netball.
- I spent my childhood doing competitive sports at county and regional levels and I don’t think that competitive edge ever leaves you. So far, however, we’ve lost all but 1 of our matches. The former ‘competitive me’ would have returned home each week disappointed and frustrated at losing, replaying the mistakes I made over in my mind, feeling I’ve let the team down. But what’s surprised me is that I now get more satisfaction from seeing my teammates enjoying what they’re doing, improving each week, and encouraging one another. Feeling part of a team and enjoying the process of playing far and away trumps the result for me now. Indeed, there really is no ‘I’ in ‘team’.
So, what’s the message here? I guess it’s put yourself out of your comfort zone; rediscover something you used to do which gave you ‘joy’ (or try something you’ve always wanted to try but have never made the time to do so) – this might be sport, a musical instrument, art, whatever. You might love it, you might not, but at least you’ve tried and can take positivity from the action of trying. The thought of trying something new is often a bigger hurdle than actually doing it, and along the way, you might even discover things about yourself which surprise you!
I challenge you all to try and find your ‘thing’, if you haven’t already found it. Good luck!