I write this piece still in dejection after England’s heartbreaking penalty shootout loss in the Euro 2021 football final against Italy. To most of my readers on this side of the pond, that’s soccer. What an agonizing game! Well, that’s sport for you—you win some, you lose some. I was in New Hampshire and drove down to Massachusetts to watch the match. We managed to find a good bar to catch the proceedings, and the above picture was me standing outside at half-time, when England were still ahead. We were 45 minutes away from glory.
As I was recovering from the tantalizing game, I looked at that photo again and realized the irony of it. Here I was standing outside in an England shirt, and in the background you can see the historic Old State House in the center of Boston. That little brick building hosted some of the most pivotal moments leading up to American Independence from the King of England! Back in the 1760s, the first mutterings against the British Crown began in those very walls. Highly dangerous and treasonous to discuss such things, one after one, different colonists began to speak up against the mighty King of England. With each Act he passed, he seemed to be disrespecting the colonies and abusing his power more and more.
When those first whispers began in the 1760s, it was unthinkable that the American colonies would ever want to break away from Great Britain. Even up until the Revolution, as the movement gathered pace, a very large percentage of the population had no wish whatsoever to be independent—no matter how much King George kept pushing them. It was far safer to remain British subjects under the protection of the Crown, and too much of a step into the unknown to seek independence. The task was quite improbable anyway, that a group of oddballs with weapons, many of them simple farmers, could take on the most powerful army in the world.
The rest, as they say, is history, as the colonists overcame incredible odds to defeat the most powerful Empire of the time. But that march towards self-determination and seeking a better future, which is common to almost all movements and pivotal historical moments, was far from certain right until the revolution began. There’s always a battle between the comfort of a status quo, no matter how bad—and stepping into that unknown and overcoming fear. Events often actually get ahead of themselves anyway, and force people to choose the latter. The unconquerable human spirit will always tend to rise up in the end against the power play of the day.
But coming back to sport then, fewer things could also exemplify human spirit better, which is why so many of us are drawn to whatever sport it is we follow. The sheer hard work, dedication, and desire to overcome whatever obstacle is placed in front of them—to win the day for their team or country—are traits that make us admire the greatest sportsmen and women, the world over.
The days when you lose are sad, but everyone who follows any sport also knows that when the players and team are dedicated to any cause—you’ll always be back on the field again very soon. To try to win again.
Suneel Dhand is a physician, writer, and YouTuber. He is Founder at MedStoic Lifestyle Medicine and DocsDox . Follow him on YouTube and Facebook.