Angry Enough to Improve

Angry people have a certain perception and expectation of the world that they live in and when that reality does not meet their expectation of it, then they become angry.”

-Tristan Loo, What Causes Anger?

This quote may be one of the truest there are among principles that have parallels in sports and life. The daily recurrence of anger follows this pattern: Expectations collide with undesirable outcomes and dissatisfaction occurs. Of course the expression of that dissatisfaction is not all the same. There are varying degrees by which people show how mad they really are and unfortunately harm to  others can be the result.

I’m convinced that most athletes, especially at the lower prep amateur levels, are angry most of the time but unable to transfer their anger to action by defining a locus of control – that is, to something they really have the ability to change. What am I talking about?  Here’s a non-athletic example from my experience as a Christian in America: Let’s say a friend, foe or acquaintance comes up and says, “I’m angry because all these so-called ‘Christians’ are scandalous with their hypocrisy. They talk game but don’t play it cheating on their spouses, their income taxes and at Saturday soccer. They embarrass the tenets of their religion.” People have said these types of things to me regularly as if in deflection or pardon of their own responsibility to be…better.  They make valid comments based on familiar instances but have no response.  Shouldn’t disgust be an impetus for improvement? If a Christian, for instance, is a bad version of his namesake, the natural questions are #1 Does the fraudulence discount the content of the Christian faith? #2 Are there good versions that better represent the heart of Christianity? #3 (And someone said this to me 10 years ago) What’s up with this Holy Spirit crap? Isn’t it supposed to change who you are?

On to sports, if you’re near athletes or one yourself you know there is no shortage of anger. Nevertheless, it should prompt you to action, a constructive action at that, which moves you forward toward development. I was an irate 17/18 year-old college freshman. I was that lunatic punching the bleachers with bare fist because I missed the last shot in a pick-up basketball game played to seven points. There’s nothing wrong with having high expectations but you can only do what’s in your control to do. Improving means identifying what you control and rehearsing the habits that help You and only You live up to the high standards to which you hold everyone else. For the record, you’ll need some help converting anger to progress.