Some of you read that and thought "Surprise." as you rolled your eyes and continued. Others maybe thought "I'm glad you're finally seeking out medical help/advice."
I guess finally realizing that being passionate, maybe borderline too passionate, has finally settled in that it's affecting my physical health. Years of pizza and garbage eating with little to no exercise has nothing to do with it, I assure you. I blame all my ailments on years of defending sports, artists, genre's and whatever else I wanted to be brassy and belligerent about.
I used to be so passionate and up tight that I failed to recognize that other people have an opinion on the matter, and perhaps even a valiant opinion. Instead I would walk into an argument with my eyes closed and swing my opinion around like hell, hoping that the sword of opinion cut as sharp and deep as the sword of fact. (We often grab the wrong sword to fight with.)
In retrospect I realized that I really didn't do any good by getting red in the face and arguing. That person isn't going to like 'screamo' any more because I threw a bunch of facts I hadn't really checked at them. (Maybe I should run for president?) I'm confident they didn't walk away and think "Wow. he had some really good points. Maybe I should reevaluate my musical taste and preference." In reality that person probably walked away and thought: "Wow. That guy is an asshole."
To anyone in high school who told me that 'screamo' sucked, and we got into an argument over it: Screw you. You're still wrong.
I have come to realize that maybe not having something to be upset about isn't necessarily a bad thing. I had thought for the last 6 months that maybe I was depressed; because I didn't care enough about things anymore. I wouldn't argue with strangers on the Internet about sports, I didn't have this feeling that the world was ending and that I was a 'fake fan' If I didn't watch every single baseball and football game, I just didn't have the desire to rub my fandom in the face of everyone anymore. For a while I thought that this was a bad thing, I have come to realize that it's really not. It mostly just means that I'm an adult now.
I was realizing this last night as I was watching the baseball game. For the last few years I have been very loud and had no problem telling people that my favorite teams had won world championships. And while I am still excited by those historic moments, I have come to realize one simple thing:
I referenced this in a blog earlier, but they don't hand out trophies or 5 million dollar championship rings to whomever is the best lifelong fan. So there is really no reason to be cramming it down people's throats.
On a similar note, they also don't hand out gifts to people who expressively hate other organizations. I will be the first to say that for the past 5 years my absolute disgust and disdain for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization FAR outweighed my love for the San Francisco Giants. I woke up and realized one day how backwards that was (And how it also might have been affecting my health *gulp*) and decided to let sleeping dogs lie. While I will still tell anyone who asks that I hate the Dodgers, Nationals, Panthers, Raiders, Packers, Yankees and so on, I have stopped letting my hatred for those dictate my sports fanatics.
The biggest realization I got here is this: Being a dick to an opposing team fan and/or berating them is not going to change their mind or their loyalty. It's not going to make them like the rivaling franchise any more. They won't stop and think "Wow. he had some great points. The Dodgers/Giants/whatever DO suck!" they're only gonna think:"Wow. That guy is an asshole."
Going around being a dick to people only makes you out to be the dick.
To fans of those organizations that I have argued, belittled or otherwise quarreled with: Screw you. I still hate every organization I always have. I just don't have the stamina to send you all a personal email insulting you.
To wrap this all up I want to put in a political plug. I think everyone should stop putting all their energy towards the candidate they hate, and rationalizing their own personal choice of candidate's actions. Both are terrible as hell. Put your energy into something you believe in and stop degrading others. While I understand that that is a tall order, I just think it's important for everyone to stay positive.
It might raise your blood pressure if you don't.
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