What about sports?

Tonight I was talking to an aquaintance of mine about his football game. He was benched the whole game, so I was able to sympathize with him a bit, but I purposly moved the conversation to basketball. He was pretty adament about not playing, but I was going to do my best to convince him otherwise. After I talked to him, I started thinking about what effect playing sports had on me. This is just a short list that I will probably make up as I go, so it won't be in any special order:

1. Sports can drastically improve your coordination. Before I got invovled in any kind of organized sports I probably looked to everyone else like an ostrich trying to play ping-pong. Although I don't have the greatest coordination now, I know that it has improved greatly.

2. Sports can build your self confidence, even if you are no good at the sports you play. There is something about getting on a field or court with a group of guys or friends that makes you accepted. I don't want to sound like an overly psycological nut case, but throwing yourself out there, proves to yourself and others that embarrasment isn't going to stop you from doing your best and improving on what your best is.

3. Sports can be very enjoyable. There isn't anything quite like getting a good workout while you are enjoying every second of it. It's like being entertained and when you are done, you don't feel bad about having wasting your time, because you spent that time keeping your body in shape. You can't do that in front of a computer or TV. Wii's don't count. :D

My battery is about to die, so I might continue the list later and I might not. I just thought of one more thing that I had to mention. I never set foot on a basketball court until I was at least 16 years old, maybe even 17. If you saw me play basketball today, you probably wouldn't think that. Not because I am good at it, but because I am comfortable doing my best, and I strive to learn more and do better every time. All in all, if I had it to do over again, I would have started my sports a lot sooner than 17 years of age.