Why We Should Be Playing Sports

Humanity had evolved from hunting – running, sweating and surviving. Now, in the present, people seem to have devolved to sit on their chairs to only play video games or to watch Netflix on the couch. It’s not surprising that the obesity rate has shot up in the last century. Technology and information have gotten better, but our bodies should be too. We’ve developed antibodies and spunk, but we are beginning to lose one of the things that kept our species alive in the first place – sports and exercise.

Sports or exercising regularly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. It even strengthens that mind and tempers the soul. Most sports require you to use your entire body in the process of the playing; this not only allows you to strengthen your muscles and prevent early muscle atrophy, but it also allows you to burn off any unnecessary fat around your body. A study from Harvard shows that the average person who weighs 155-185 pounds need to burn off 260 - 311 calories daily. This can easily be achieved through a 30min game of soccer, basketball or anything equivalent.

Most sports use the same amount of energy and calories to play. For the generations to come, we cannot and will not forget the thing that our ancestor had, the very thing that still lies deep ravaging with our blood, the desire to be active, to sweat, and to survive. How would you feel if you had muscle atrophy with flimsy legs sitting in a wheelchair by the age of 60 while being unable to run with your grandchildren? Alternatively, even worse, how would you feel lying in a hospital bed attached to a large machine for God knows however long?

Sports attack disease. Sports attack the mere concept and stigma of old age. In addition, sports can be team based or Individual-based. I enjoy playing all sports, but if you need a bit more support from others, or need some time alone, sports can cater to both. That support that you feel greets you goes inside you and ultimately heals you. Being involved in the community and enjoying something with others is a reward in itself. Everybody doesn’t enjoy, but nobody cannot enjoy the warmth of friends and teammates on your team and the other. Sports are an excellent way to socialize. Sports in teams can help you make friends and help you later in life with your social skills. This invaluable asset is what has led many entrepreneurs to have the kind of opportunities that they have taken, that they have cherished throughout the rest of their business career. Not to mention, sports teaches you a special kind of discipline, and it gives you humility. Deep within your psyche, you learn to appreciate your friends on your team. Even if you’re the one to score the most points on your team or the one to swim the fastest in a relay, you know that you could not have done it without your teammates, your coach, and your family. They are ones to support you during the practices and they are the reason that you show up to your 9am or 9pm practices. The memories that you make will be bittersweet with each victory and each loss that you encounter, but that won’t stop you from crying harder, trying harder, and playing harder. That’s the kind of experience that you get from sports that sports teams representative and coaches don’t tell you enough about.

A great Greek philosopher names Thales once said, “The happy man is the one who has a healthy body, a wealthy soul and a well-educated nature.” Applying that phrase to this idea that man should play sports, one of the things that have led the happy man to do this is simple enough to be put into the concept of balance. This balance of health which comes from proper diet and exercise, of spirit which comes from friendship, and of education which comes from discipline come from something that I’ve been emphasizing this entire time, playing sports.