The OSIP Foundation, Inc.
  • Home
  • About
    • About OSIP
    • Message From Founder
    • Board of Directors
    • Executives
  • Documents
  • Donate
    • Where Does My Money Go?
    • Mail Us A Check
    • PayPal
  • Contact
    • Contact Us!
    • Mailing List Sign Up
  • Calendar of Events
  • Host a Trivia Night!
  • Apparel
  • Programs
    • How You Play The Game (Podcast) >
      • Podcast Episodes
      • Submit A Story
    • OSIP Award
    • Sportsmanship Signs
    • The Strike Zone (Blog)
    • On Sportsmanship (Book)
  • Success Stories
  • How To Request Help
  • 1st Annual Black-Tie Gala

THE STRIKE ZONE

Sometimes Sports, Sometimes Sportsmanship

Self-Esteem:  Part 7

9/19/2018

0 Comments

 
I hope you enjoyed this look at self-esteem over the past few weeks.  Before we wrap it up, I want to credit Alfie Cohn's book "No Contest" as the inspiration and source for much of this information.  I'm sure I will continue to quote the book in future posts!

Winning has the potential to be an addiction.  If we look to an alcoholic drink as something we need for a way to relax, or if we look to a snort of cocaine for a quick high, we can do the same thing when we look to winning as a way to feel good about ourselves.

The addiction to winning is probably most similar to the addiction to gambling.  When we gamble, we never want to quit while we are ahead, nor do we ever think we can't win our money back when we lose.  As our winnings increase, we keep rolling the dice.  When we are down a significant amount, we think we are going to get on a role with the next hand of cards.

The same thing goes with winning.  After we win, we want to win more.  If we win a championship, we want to repeat, and we never want to walk away.  If we lose, we get back out there to prove ourselves because we never give up.  The cycle doesn't end.

Further, the more we reward being "number one," the more we contribute to the addiction of competition.

The problem continues when the pleasure from winning wears off faster and faster.  We compete again and again searching for that thrill, only to be disappointed when we don't get it from another victory.  We compare each championship to other championships and wonder why we are not as enthralled after gold medal.

The funny thing is that this phenomenon can happen in so many other places in life.  I can remember walking out of a movie that absolutely blew me away to the point of obsession that the sequel was a disappointment because it didn't do the same thing to me that the first movie did.  Is it fair to compare them that way?  How can one movie compete with its own sequel?

Competition is a funny thing.  Self-esteem should just be happy.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Jack Furlong

    Baseball player, umpire, coach, fan; professional musician; founder, President & CEO of The OSIP Foundation, Inc.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016

    Categories

    All
    Announcing
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Blog News
    Business Of Sports
    Coaching
    College Sports
    Competition
    Cycling
    Fans
    Football
    Gambling
    Golf
    High School Sports
    Hockey
    Hunting
    Officiating
    Posts From Previous Blog
    Rugby
    Soccer
    Softball
    Sportsmanship
    Sports Media
    Sports Parenting
    Sports Psychology
    Tennis
    Video Games
    Youth Sports

    RSS Feed

Ninja Number
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
    • About OSIP
    • Message From Founder
    • Board of Directors
    • Executives
  • Documents
  • Donate
    • Where Does My Money Go?
    • Mail Us A Check
    • PayPal
  • Contact
    • Contact Us!
    • Mailing List Sign Up
  • Calendar of Events
  • Host a Trivia Night!
  • Apparel
  • Programs
    • How You Play The Game (Podcast) >
      • Podcast Episodes
      • Submit A Story
    • OSIP Award
    • Sportsmanship Signs
    • The Strike Zone (Blog)
    • On Sportsmanship (Book)
  • Success Stories
  • How To Request Help
  • 1st Annual Black-Tie Gala