Keeping the right score during World Cup

Originally appeared on spirituality.com

I’ve always been an avid sports fan, although not a fanatic. Swimming, football, and martial arts are some of my favorite sports to play. Some I compete in, like darts, while others are just for fun.

I am especially excited about the 2010 football (soccer) World Cup, where I am supporting my favorite team, Brazil. I first rallied behind them during the 2006 World Cup when my country, Kenya, was not represented. Brazil has won the most victories of any team in the history of the World Cup, which made me have faith in them and a strong conviction that they would win again. Cheering for Brazil led me to a valuable spiritual lesson about humility, teamwork, and the importance of having a spiritual sense in everything I engage in.

That year, Brazil consistently won all their matches up to the quarter finals when the French national team beat them hands down. When the whistle to end the match was blown, I could not believe we had lost. I was emotionally in pain, even though I was watching the game on TV from home over 1,000 miles away. Fellow fans in the stadium broke into tears at the end of the match. It was not the first time I’d observed such a stunning loss, but it was my very first experience to personally grieve a team’s loss.

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