Anger-Management

Most of you would know that I love sports.
Throw me a ball, a racket, a pair shoes, whatever, I'm willing to try.
But what most wouldn't know is this;
Back in my high school days, when it comes to sports,
I had a serious issue dealing with my temper.
Yup, Christopher Koh can actually go berserk back then.

Why the sudden talk about anger-management?
I was having dinner with a friend a few nights ago and we came to this particular topic, thus, reminded me of the jerk I once was.
Football used to be the sport for me.
When I'm on the field, I would go CRAZY if someone can't make a clean pass or when someone comes tackling me.
Biliousness was something I couldn't control.
As my floorball mates would say, "mental tak kuaaaatttt"...
I remember this one time I was playing for fun with a group of friends and at some point I got frustrated and ranted out my anger on this one guy whom I've never met before.
He freaked out man.
I was a real mean dude... Last time lar...
Now sudah insaf.

Now, when I see people venting out their anger and frustration on court, I'm reminded of what I was.
And I still know how it feels.
All that frustration and anger curled up inside us, just a button away waiting to explode.
And when the next person comes to body-check you, you loose it.
Everything comes out like a raging volcano.
Our actions, words and expressions display such ferocity that one could never see if it wasn't on court.
Those feelings are still within me but maybe more dormant now than before.

In retrospect, I know I was a pain in the butt.
I was extremely competitive.
Medals symbolised my desire.
But I believe I had to go through that phase in my life to understand a deeper meaning in sports rather than just attaining temporal satisfaction of winning.
Now, I can safely say I've dampen my anger issue.
I'm not sure exactly how or when.
Along the way, my perspective changed I guess.
I've always been a team-sports kinda person.
Rather than working myself in the pursuit of temporal glory, I now prefer working the team as a whole in the pursuit of strong virtuous characters while playing.
If I can exude such spirit and in turn, inspire my team mates to do the same, to me, that is a medal that would last me a lifetime.