Article February 11, 2002 Issue

ORDER ON THE ICE

Japhet Els

Even prior to the summer league incident my mom describes, I would sometimes let my temper cloud my judgment and hinder my ability to play. Hockey is a very physical game, like football, and you don't realize that you can do damage if you don't control your emotions. I had to learn that bad temper isn't really part of me as a child of God. It's not what God put inside me.

My initial feeling after the stick incident was utter sorrow and embarrassment, because I had reacted and lost my temper. The other guy wasn't hurt, and because he was protected in his own way, I was incredibly grateful.

I began to evolve in my thought a prayer based on who I am spiritually, and it sounds like a mantra, but whenever the thought of what I'd done would come to mind, I'd say to myself, "This is no part of me and cannot claim to be part of me as God's child." I knew I didn't have to be held hostage by a mistake.

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