The Ultimate Cheerleader

A huge part of many sports is the cheerleading squads entertaining the crowds but more importantly cheering their teams on.

There is power behind cheering someone on. It says you believe in them, you trust them to get the job down and you will be there for them no matter what.

Cheerleaders don’t pick and choose when they cheer their teams on, they feel the highs of any wins and the pains of any losses and they turn up every time their team is playing.

That’s how important it is to have people behind us urging us on in life and we need to do the same for others as well.

As a ‘footie mum’ for many years, I observed parents’ responses to the games. Even though these kids were still quite young, I would see some parents berate their children like their whole world would crash without football.

Sometimes I couldn’t help thinking why the parents themselves didn’t end up as footballers or at least look like one if it was really that easy to be phenomenal in the sport. I felt the pain and the embarrassment of their children.

On the other hand I would see other parents say, ‘chin up’, play better ‘next time’, ‘you were great when…’. The truth is that no matter how bad a game was, there would have been some commendable moments during the game. So if we really wanted to cheer the players on, we can choose to focus on those moments.

Sadly we see cyber-bullying and use of abusive languages and insults hurled at adult players in the Premier league and in many other sports.

Unfortunately it doesn’t matter to the accusers if the player helped win the last game; they only care about the highs and not the lows.

The social media space has made it so easy for many to be spiteful, spew hatred and bias because they hide behind screens. The effects of their actions are not obvious since they can’t see the face of their victims and the impacts of their words and actions on others’ mental and emotional wellbeing.

As they say, once you know better, you should do better. We need to make better choices that will mean we become cheerleaders instead of those who pull others down.

There’s a part of human nature that’s naturally inclined towards envying others and judging whether they deserve something good even when we are clueless about the price they’ve paid to get it. This is where we have to crucify our flesh and other natural tendencies that we know bring out the worst in us.

I love how Jim Stovall puts it in the quote which says, “You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.”

Can you imagine a world where every one wins because we run behind others to support and cheer them on; and we know they will do exactly the same for us?

Can you imagine a world where everyone is given the opportunity to shine on account of their qualifications, skills, talents and experiences; one where we don’t interfere to alter the course of what is right, fair and just?

A world where we don’t celebrate based on any distinguishing human factors but we just learn to celebrate the gifts and the Giver of those gifts to us.

This past week, the World Trade Organisation celebrated history being made with the confirmation of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Director-General. She is the first woman and African in that position and her path to it wasn’t without intentional attempts at sabotage.

But now we must rally behind her to cheer her on in the huge task ahead. That’s the least the world can do as she works on our behalf.

Thanks for reading my post. Have a wonderful week. Don’t forget to be the ultimate cheerleader.