Estadio Catellao, Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil
EVERYTHING is AWESOME! What a fantastic summer I had with more adventure than ever. I kicked it off with a June media tour across Canada about Brain Injury Awareness Month. Then we were off to BRAZIL for the World Cup of Soccer! It was an AMAZING trip!
On the way down to Brazil, we did a long overnight flight with Air Canada. Their entertainment system is tops because you get to see new movie releases. Both my sons (adults) recommended that we watch the Lego Movie.
The theme song is called “Everything is Awesome!” and it stuck. My husband would sing it out loud every now and then during our trip in Brazil, which would just make me laugh. Its premise is SO simple and yet SO profound. And so, it energized my thoughts about my already positive intention during this vacation of a lifetime. EVERYTHING was AWESOME, even when things weren’t perfect. And then it became perfect.
Whatever happens, happens for a reason. There are no accidents because we each create the situations we find ourselves. Remember, you can either do this consciously or you don’t. Most of the time it’s a mixture, you’re consciously or unconsciously creating all parts of your day.
Sport continues to mirror life. The semi-finals of the World Cup of the Beautiful Game showed us more.
Some days we have fantastic days – where everything goes as planned – when we cannot fail. Germany scored on just about every shot on net. Seven goals in one game is phenomenal, unheard of, relatively rare in the game played at the highest level. There was crying in the stands, even Brazilian children cried. I was amazed at that. There are days when you do everything right but you can’t buy a goal.
There are days when every shot goes in, when EVERYTHING is AWESOME, when you can do no wrong, cannot fail!
There are near misses – you hit cross-bars and goal-posts and the ball bounces off and back into play. Other days the cross-bar and goal-post are your friends and the ball deflects off them into the net. There were far less of these during the tournaments. These express the times when you work and don’t quite reach your goal. Keep on it and eventually you get where you want to do.
Or on the other hand, EVERYTHING is AWESOME when you’re on the team that gets the shut-out.
Your psychological well being has a lot to do with your success. If you’re a pessimist, you won’t get too far in life. You’ll accept meagerness and will be afraid of failure – you won’t even try. That was Brazil.
But if you’re an optimist, then you have faith in yourself and in the world in general. You won’t give up at the slightest obstacle. Instead EVERYTHING is AWESOME! That WAS Brazil.
If you’re working on a team, ONE person does not make the team. Each of you has an important role. You’re on the team for a reason. Do your best. Keep your promises. Every person on a team can still make things happen, but only if you take responsibility and step up your game. Then EVERYTHING is AWESOME for everyone involved as you get it DONE.
Playing not to lose is a POOR way to succeed. That Argentina – Holland game was painful to watch. I knew that both sides could play attacking football, especially Holland. I saw nothing of the scintillating play from the group stage in the men in Orange.
Holland did bounce back. They had a totally different attitude playing for 3rd place against Brazil, than they did playing for the top prize in South Africa, when they made the gold-medal game. Back then they imploded, fought amongst themselves. This year the Dutch were having fun and they acted like a TEAM, both in winning and losing. They didn’t attack each other when things went bad.
They celebrated each goal in their game against Brazil. They were truly winners, not just because they scored more goals, but because their attitude was great! EVERYTHING is AWESOME when you do your best no matter what.
Brazil has to let go of old ideas. They must regroup and examine their hearts. They weren’t the strongest team coming into the tournament. FIFA rankings had Spain at #1 at the beginning of the tournament. You know how that turned out. Rankings don’t mean anything unless you execute.
That goes to show that any team can beat another team on a given day. Underdogs can win and triumph. If they have enough desire. If they use all their talents. If they are willing to be flexible and mix things up.
But EVERYTHING is AWESOME. You can turn a disaster into triumph. That is what Germany had to do in 2000 when they began to rebuild their system. The team we see today is the result of that resilience and hard work. Is the Canadian Soccer Association paying attention?
Have an AWESOME day!
“EVERYTHING is AWESOME” was originally published in LinkedIn on July 13, 2014.
Dr. Joanny Liu, TCMD, RAc, P.Eng. Dr Joanny Liu “Best Selling Author and founder of Extraordinary Sports Medicine, where we help athletes reverse injury, get back in the game they love and improve their quality of life.” Best selling book at: Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game Remember, we’ve got two books about healing concussions in Amazon: Knock OUT Concussions, Heal Your Concussion: 21 Days to Brain Health, and Dr. Joanny’s new book, Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game is NOW live on Amazon!
