Following a team in a particular sport is one of the most amazing things that I have experienced through my own experiences and the experiences of others. When I turned 6, I started to sneak out my room in the middle of the night to watch the Collingwood Football games because here in Rockhampton Queensland they never aired the show live because they believed that Cross-country Wrestling, aka Rubgy League, was watched by more people throughout Australia, therefore making it a TV priority. My father sat me down at the age of 8 and jokingly said "Now Ashka, you can support any team in the AFL you want, but if its a team other than Collingwood, you aren't living in my house." Ever since then I would watch particular sections of the games and was only interested in it at the very end to find out the end result. There was just something about the TV that made the game boring and dull. A number of years ago now, my dad took me to my very first live Collingwood game. It was the Collingwood vs. Brisbane Lions game at the Gabba and we were seated right behind the cheer squad. It was one of the best days of my life. There was this tremendous energy flowing through me as I took in the sight and sound of the crowd going ballistic and supporting their team. I had never felt more alive as I screamed and cheered for the Collingwood boys.
The next live Collingwood game that I attended after that what the Collingwood and St Kilda Grandfinal draw. I remember the emotions running through me; anger, happiness, fear and right at the end of the game when it was declared a draw, numbness. At that moment dad turned to me and whispered "I have never heard the MCG this silent." I was so disappointed that there was no result. If we lost I would have been angry and if we won, I would have been overjoyed to see my first Collingwood grand final win. Anything was better than the numbness of the draw, even losing. And to make it even worse, I was so upset that I couldn't stay in Melbourne for the Grand Final Replay. When the replay was on, I sat and watched it with my family. When we won, it was the first time that I had ever seen my dad cry as he said to me "I have waited 20 years for this moment. I was on the verge of quitting support for Collingwood but I stuck with them because I could never let go, because I saw the potential of new players as they came through.. And we finally did it." It was then that I learned my greatest lesson yet.
There are some people that don't follow any team through everything because for them, it is just easier to switch the support from the team you were following to which ever team wins that season. But the people who deserve the respect from the teams which they support are the people who stood by them through the heartache and the joy, never giving up on them because they know that there is a chance that this could be the year that they win for the season, whether it be Cross-country Wrestling, Soccer or AFL. Those people are the inspiration for the next generation who support the same team. I want to have the same loyalty and love that my dad has and show an unfailing support for the Collingwood Football Club. He has inspired me to never give up on something just because they fail, but to stick to it even stronger than before in the hope that it will be better.
Through Thick and Think, I will always support the Collingwood Football Club.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Life of rich and famous
Ok, so everyone gets to know about the life of the Celebrities thanks to paparazzi, TV interviews, magazines and so on and so forth. At times, it's great to hear about whats going on with them when the news is positive but really, who wants to hear that Cameron Diaz cried over a haircut or that people believe that Taylor Swift got breast implants and how inappropriate it is for the younger generation to see that? What is there to see? It isn't like she filmed the operation and uploaded it to the internet! And it doesn't matter what you believe, if she got them she got them; if she didn't she didn't. No one can judge. I mean, I certainly can't judge her for possibly wanting to change something about herself when there is so much that I want to change about myself. Which brings me to my topic...Judging the people around you.
It seems to be a natural instinct of ours to judge people but when is it that the point goes too far and you've judged someone too harshly or out of their character? As an example, I'll use an experience of my own. A girl I knew used to be the life of the party. She always found a way to brighten everyones day with a single smile and always, no matter what was going on put everyones problems before her own when they turned to her for help. However, something happened that brought that all crashing down. She was sad, unsure of how to handle the feelings she had so she shut herself off from them. She moved schools and while she was there she didn't make any new friends. But, she heard people whispering that she was a snob and that she believed she was better than everyone around her. Slowly, she started to sort out everything that went wrong and found herself feeling better as the days went by. But there was a problem. What she didn't know was she was in that funk for three years and suddenly, she was very shy. She introduced herself to people but it was a while before she actually started talking to people and making friends. Soon, she was back to herself, smiling brightly and helping everyone she could but she was a lot kinder to people than she was before, regretting the way she may have treated others when she was down and vowed never to be that person again. That girl, in the funk, was me. And I refer to that time in my life in third person because the truth is, I don't even know who that was. I look back at it all and it all feels like it was some strange dream. I wont tell you what it is that brought me down, but the fact is, people judged me for it, believing that I was just a snobby bitch who didn't give a shit about anyone but myself. Truth is, I cared about other people so much, I kept my problems to myself. I refused to burden people with them.
But I'm not an angel either, I've judged people rather harshly and later discovered that what I first thought was wrong, which brings me to the most important lesson I learned. Never think you know someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. It took me a long time to understand what that meant. In fact, I still struggle with it. But really, lets be reasonable, who doesn't? So, if Taylor Swift got her breasts done who cares? We don't know her reasoning behind it and we may never know. The truth is, everyone is who they are and no matter what the world says, everyone changes for the best. Even a bad change can become good if you know how to handle it. So, I part with something for you to think about. What do you want to change about yourself? And what are your reasons for wanting that change?
It seems to be a natural instinct of ours to judge people but when is it that the point goes too far and you've judged someone too harshly or out of their character? As an example, I'll use an experience of my own. A girl I knew used to be the life of the party. She always found a way to brighten everyones day with a single smile and always, no matter what was going on put everyones problems before her own when they turned to her for help. However, something happened that brought that all crashing down. She was sad, unsure of how to handle the feelings she had so she shut herself off from them. She moved schools and while she was there she didn't make any new friends. But, she heard people whispering that she was a snob and that she believed she was better than everyone around her. Slowly, she started to sort out everything that went wrong and found herself feeling better as the days went by. But there was a problem. What she didn't know was she was in that funk for three years and suddenly, she was very shy. She introduced herself to people but it was a while before she actually started talking to people and making friends. Soon, she was back to herself, smiling brightly and helping everyone she could but she was a lot kinder to people than she was before, regretting the way she may have treated others when she was down and vowed never to be that person again. That girl, in the funk, was me. And I refer to that time in my life in third person because the truth is, I don't even know who that was. I look back at it all and it all feels like it was some strange dream. I wont tell you what it is that brought me down, but the fact is, people judged me for it, believing that I was just a snobby bitch who didn't give a shit about anyone but myself. Truth is, I cared about other people so much, I kept my problems to myself. I refused to burden people with them.
But I'm not an angel either, I've judged people rather harshly and later discovered that what I first thought was wrong, which brings me to the most important lesson I learned. Never think you know someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. It took me a long time to understand what that meant. In fact, I still struggle with it. But really, lets be reasonable, who doesn't? So, if Taylor Swift got her breasts done who cares? We don't know her reasoning behind it and we may never know. The truth is, everyone is who they are and no matter what the world says, everyone changes for the best. Even a bad change can become good if you know how to handle it. So, I part with something for you to think about. What do you want to change about yourself? And what are your reasons for wanting that change?
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