What is going on good people? Your guy Brad H. is here once again to present you all with another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Welcome back for those that stop through frequently, and a big thanks for those of you that are first time readers here. We are here for another week of inspiration and perspective that will hopefully help us all to open our minds and keep on moving forward. I hope that all has been well with everyone out there, and if that hasn't been the case for you, keep your head up and stay trying to move in a direction that can hopefully change that. Before we get into the week's topic, I want to talk about something that I'm sure most of you sports fans out there are probably happy about. The NBA Playoffs are officially here ladies and gentlemen! After 82 games and several months of basketball, the road towards the NBA Finals has begun. For me personally, the first round is always the most exciting because of the volume of games on a daily basis. For those of you that may not already know, I'm a San Antonio Spurs fan. The Spurs will be facing off with the Golden States Warriors in the first round. I'll admit that this definitely wasn't one of the best seasons the Spurs have had since I've been a fan. We're accustomed to seeing the Spurs as a higher seed compared to the 7th seed they are this season. Though it was a mediocre regular season, I'm still proud of how well they have done considering that they've been without their best player (Kawhi Leonard) for nearly the entire season. Gotta give Coach Popovich a lot of credit for the coaching job he has done. So do I think the Spurs will get past the Warriors in the first round? I try to be a realist, so I still give the Warriors the edge despite their injuries and struggles as of late. However, I'll never count out Coach Pop's ability to game plan against another team. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks. Alright, it is now time to go ahead and get into this week's discussion of how keeping your cool can be a strength.
As per the usual format I use here, I'm going to go ahead and use this section to give my disclaimer and how this particular topic came to be. We all have different ways of viewing life. The main goal here isn't to focus on what is right or what is wrong. The goal is to hopefully provide some inspiration for those that may need it, and to also encourage others to consider seeing things in a manner in which they may not have before. I'm just a regular guy with an opinion, so I don't expect everyone to always agree with me when it comes to these topics. I personally believe that we're never too knowledgeable or too old to learn from other people, so hopefully what I have to say can be of use to another person. As for how I came to wanting to discuss this topic, I would mainly credit it to something I heard someone say a few days ago. I was on Youtube listening to a video, and the person in the video I was watching referenced how he prides himself on being able to stay calm despite people trying to be disrespectful towards him at times. Watching him make reference to this made me think about past occasions where I've had discussions of this manner with others. As a matter of fact as I think about it now, I have written previous entries on here where I talked about how anger isn't always beneficial to our health and well-being. Now in saying all of this, I'm in no way saying that anyone should be a pushover, nor am I implying that we should never get angry. That is unrealistic. However, what I am implying is that being able to stay calm and collected in the midst of a chaotic moment can keep a person from making a mistake(s) that could be detrimental to their lives. Again this is all subjective and depends on how you think, but regardless of what you may think or feel, I hope that you hear me out on some of my points.
Something that many of us both dislike and hate to acknowledge is that some people in this world just enjoy getting a rise out of other people. We've all been around a person at some point or another that gets under our skin. Maybe they tease and pick at something you did or have done before, or they just are annoying to be around for whatever reasons. What's even worse is when that person notices that they are getting under your skin, and then they continue to keep on doing whatever it is that they're doing to bother you. The normal and often usual reaction for most of us is to get angry and lash out when this happens. The emotion of being angry is seen as a show of strength and intimidation to let whomever that is bothering you to stop whatever their doing to get you to this point. Now there are a couple of factors to consider when someone gets you to the point where you're angry and ready to do something you may end up regretting later. First off, the individual that is getting under you skin may very well heed your warning and chill. However, and this is the second point, what if it is someone that doesn't take your warnings seriously? You can easily find yourself in a physical situation that could turn dangerous, or you may end up damaging a friendship or relationship by saying something that you'll be sorry for later. Now I do realize that there are going to be some people and situations where these kind of confrontations are unavoidable for the most part. However, I personally believe that many of us allow ourselves to lose our cool in these types of scenarios because society has painted this image that anger is strength, and remaining calm is a show of weakness. In other words, I think that most of us know we shouldn't allow others to get us out of our character, but we choose to do so because it has been conditioned.
Now I'm going to use an analogy here that is going to probably sound pretty weird, but hear me out on this as it relates to this topic. Think of a professional bodybuilder for a sec. A bodybuilder exudes strength through their sheer physical presence right? When you see a bodybuilder whether they're training at the moment or not, they're automatically deemed as being strong by society. Now think of someone that is a professional yoga practitioner. This is a person that maybe physically isn't intimidating, but because they're extremely flexible and able to hold poses that the average person cannot, they have a strength that many others don't. I believe that a good portion of people in our society would make the claim that something like yoga is a weaker activity compared to lifting weights. Now the reason I bring up these two examples is because although they're two different things, both have their share of strengths and weaknesses in the eye of others. The same ideology applies when it comes to anger and staying calm from my perspective. Though the display of anger can be considered a strength and intimidating by society's standards, is it really if you're allow someone else to get you out of your character? Again, there is nothing wrong with getting angry at times, but why exactly do we find ourselves getting angry at others? Again, is it because it is a part of who we are inside, or are why allowing what is judged as being a strength to bring us out of our character? Those are questions that only we as individuals can answer, and it is something that we have to look within ourselves to find out.
As with how I explained how I came to write about this topic, I personally pride myself on trying to remain as cool and calm as possible, even when the actions of others try to get me to do otherwise. Like I mentioned earlier, some people go out of their way to try to get us out of character and make us angry. If you already know this to be the case, don't you think you're likely in a better position to handle these kind of people if you're able to stay calm? The point I'm trying to get across this week is that it is okay to keep your cool and not wild out every single time you feel someone has wronged you. I personally believe that a wise individual knows what battles to fight and what battles to walk away from. Too many of us find ourselves in bad circumstances that we could have easily just walked away from. Now I want to reiterate again that I'm in no way saying that you have to allow people to run over you by staying calm. There are always better ways to calmly express yourself without using a lot of bravado. I'm also not telling anyone else what to do or how to live. I'm just trying to encourage others to see that society isn't always your friend when it comes to certain things. People have done some regretful things by just trying to show that their tough, or because they were egged on by others. Don't buy into the hype that the only sign of strength is through anger and intimidation. That is what society wants us to think, but we're not going to let society dictate how we carry ourselves. We're going to live and do things on our own terms to the best of our ability, so remember to try and keep your cool always, and don't allow other people to get you out of your character.
Well that is all I have for this week ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to go ahead and get off of here, but I'd like to thank everyone once again that came through for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As with the usual, I hope that there was some meaning and understanding gained from this. If anyone has any feedback or concerns, please leave those in the comments, or you can hit me up on my Twitter handle @BradrickH. I hope that each and every one of you has a great weekend and an even better week ahead. Also, for all the basketball fans out there, I hope you enjoy the playoffs. I'm sure that I'll be talking about them more in the weeks to come, so good luck to everyone's teams unless you're a Warriors fan right now. Well I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend, and I'll see you all in the next topic. Take care everyone; stay strong and stay encouraged! Peace out!
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