How Will People Read Your Chapter?

I have this constant over-analyzing process that I like to pull out in most situations. Whether it is a certain person, a group, a word, a sentence, a movement, an eyebrow raise... I like to read people, but sometimes, just like good literature- the chapters vary depending on what the characters are going through at the time. You can feel the darkness and weight in a chapter of vengeance and maybe when you turn the page you feel hope as the hero tackles his giant. People, too, have these chapters. It depends on what they are dealing with in the moment, what they are dealing with in their present and how they have dealt with similar situations in the past. All these factors come in to play as we interact with the issue at hand.

I have prominently and recently noticed these "chapters" this summer... I have undergone a very athletic and sport-filled schedule that I hope to keep up for awhile. Playing these different sports means I play with different people quite often. I am a people-person... I could meet a new person every hour on the hour and be quite content.. (though I do value my quiet time and sometimes venture for a little solitude in a mass of people.) But I digress. Back to sports..

While playing with all these different people and experiencing my own competitiveness in full force again (its been locked up since intramurals my freshman year), its been very revealing. I told Lyndsay the other day that sports really brings out true character in a person. We hear this all the time in HS as we played basketball and baseball.. but we never took it seriously.. we just wanted to win.

But now that we have grown into "adults"... where does our true character lie? I have witnessed a lot so far this summer.. I have seen an entire softball team cuss, rant, rave, yell, etc. in a tournament that was so vulgar that it made my own blood boil. In another sport I have seen a player criticize and try to belittle another player just because. I have heard "jokes" about needing to do better.. that weren't really jokes at all and stung more than anything. I am guilty in this as well folks, and have felt myself grow angry at my own teammates and their criticism and let sarcasm pass my lips. These chapters are the ones that we read quicker to get to the good parts of the story, but the ones that stick with us the most when the book has reached the end.
But there are some chapters that keep as transfixed and in awe. These chapters show character that we smile at and hope we can do the same in such situations. I have also seen this first hand and it impacted me so greatly that I too began seeing my overly-competitive nature as a little too much sometimes. I have seen a friend be torn apart by another player and watched as he just smiled and kept playing the game- refusing to be the smaller man and give into temptation of smarting back. I have also experienced being on a not-so-great team and beating a more advanced team because the teamwork was outstanding on our side, only because of the "building up" that we did to each other. It made an obvious difference.

So which chapter are you when you turn to the sports section of the book? There are obvious differences between competitive and brutal or helpful and critical... Also, there are obvious differences in character we bring on a court or field as well. Check yourself, you may be doing more harm than good. I have heard that playing hard requires heart... well, where is your heart at when the game begins and ends? Will your chapter be remembered because of your bitter retort and slander or because your personality doesn't differ between on and off the court?

Remember.. people are watching.
How will you effect them?
How will people read your chapter?