Joy and Pain of Being a Sports Fan

I am a basketball fan. I enjoy watching ball at almost any level.  I especially enjoy close competitive games.  But when I am watching my teams, I get a rush when they take the lead or win a close game.  I feel dark and down when they lose.  I feel very frustrated when they aren't playing well or are giving a good effort. It's strange the affect it has on me. Watching a game is physically, mental and emotional draining experience.

When my teams are playing well, it is a euphoric, re-affirming joy ride.  When they play poorly I have to focus on the small positives I can see from individual players.

Sometimes, I have to stop watching or a bad game can darken my mood for days.

Being a fan is hard.

Being perpetually surprised in life

Nothing stays the same and everything changes.  Everything changes in ways I don't expect.  The experiences that I anticipated in my life never happen in the way I anticipated them.

In high school I expected to study hard and churn out straights A's in college.  In reality I found the grades weren't that important to me. Also I discovered that grinding out an A in high school english is very different than an A in thermodynamics.

I was sure I would meet a girl at college. I would date her and marry her.  I met lots of girls at college. The few I wanted to date did not return the sentiment. So I did the modern thing and met my wife via the internet.

The moral of the story is that your life will be different than what you can see from now. Don't get down about it. Don't worry too much about it. Make the best decisions you can now today and revisit them when the time is right.