It has been made obvious that almost every other thing or phenomenon has two or more sides to look from, benefits and disadvantages. It all depends on how one gets himself or herself involved in it. This difference in use and perception applies to almost every aspect of life such as science, technology, education, exercise, chemistry (chemistry can be used negatively for making chemical bombs, addictive drugs like methylamine, etc.). Anything which is used in a positive manner with intentions not to harm any entity then it is good for the world but if the intentions are not or the use is somehow taken into the wrong direction then it can have negative consequences.
Similarly, sports are one of those things which have both negative and positive consequences. An athletic lifestyle can give you a fit physique, a healthy body and can make you a better human but the same lifestyle can make you depressed, destroy your social connections and can make your life a living hell (if you think that I exaggerated here? You must read the full text). We shall start our discussion with the pros of having an athletic lifestyle.
Pros of Athletic lifestyle
It is Fun
Most of us dream of becoming an athlete or having an athletic lifestyle because its’ simply fun. Athletes are those people who make their hobby their profession and earn millions of dollars while having fun. Nowadays, all you hear is people complaining about their jobs and their careers, a majority of people don’t like their profession or their jobs and are frustrated because of it but athletes are on a different level. They love their jobs because their jobs are what they are good at and their job is to do what they are most comfortable at and most importantly have fun doing it.
It keeps you fit
It is a requirement of an athletic lifestyle to be fit, both mentally and physically. Keeping good care of your mind, eating healthy foods, keep yourself far from things that can harm your physical or mental health. All of this has hugely positive impacts on your life and as a by-product, it will increase the probability of living longer. An ordinary guy who is not a fulltime athlete can never meet the fitness level of a pro athlete because it requires serious dedication, discipline, and passion. People like us sitting all day on our office chair and eating fast food can only dream of that discipline in our life.
It improves Social life
An athletic lifestyle gives one the opportunity to meet new people quite often, these new people involve other players, coaches, sports legends, managers, and also celebrities if you are a hotshot in your game. The athletic lifestyle can substantially improve one’s social life and can introduce to the glamour and spotlights of showbiz. (Gerard Pique married Shakira, One hell of a spotlight he got). Moreover, athletic lifestyle encourages healthy interactions with like-minded sports athlete that are successful and disciplined in their respective fields and usually these social relations to help a person in growing.
Cons of Athletic lifestyle
Too much dedication
Since our childhood, we have been taught by our teachers and parents that dedication and consistency is the key to success but let me break it to you it is NOT! I will emphasize again on my point that too much of anything is not good and too much dedication towards a sport or your athletic lifestyle can seriously harm your priorities and there is a big chance that you start giving more importance to your athletics or sports more than your family, friends (that are not a part of this sport you play) or even yourself which is going to be negative for your life.
It can be traumatic
Sports are energetic, sports are healthy and sports are extremely emotional. People who are into sports or actively follow sports become emotionally attached to their favorite sports. Fans get real angry and in some cases become violently aggressive when their favorite team losses or when their favorite players got injured (we all remember the incident when Neymar got injured during FIFA world cup). Failure in sports leave a traumatic impact on fans and trauma multiplies when you lost as a player. It could dramatically decrease the self-esteem and self-confidence a person. In addition to that, players most of the time become the victim of severe depression and anxiety.
It can be hurting
It is guaranteed that whenever you play sports you make yourself exposed to physical harm and injuries. Playing sports is not a walk in a park you cannot just put on your favorite personalize polo shirt and get on the field. Even as a kid, there are numerous times we fell on the ground and hurt our knees and elbow but when you play a sport as rough as rugby or football then the probability of getting injured increases drastically. Having an athletic lifestyle comes with the gift of injuries and injuries can happen in almost every sport and at any moment. With the right precautions, we can only minimize the chance of injury but can never eliminate them from the sports.