I let things consume me. I have OCD, so I am going to blame it on that. I was consumed yesterday by the amount of hate for a football player. No, I don't know him personally. But yesterday I took it a little personal when people cheered his failure and heart break. Is that who we are now?
I will back up a little. We are Panthers fans. I have been more so the last couple of seasons because I get sucked in by people who love what they do. Our team is full of people who love what they do. I love that. People that are consumed by their passion. It is fun to watch when they make it so easy for you to feel what they are feeling.
Our Panthers had an amazing season. They went 17-1! They gave away footballs away to kids who will be fans for life! They dabbed. They smiled. We felt it all with them. They loved their jobs and we loved watching them. Our coach EARNED the coach of the year title. Our quarterback, Cam Newton (my favorite, on a long list of favorite players on our team), EARNED Offensive player of the year and MVP. We were all out of our mind with happiness! This was our year.
This has been my screen saver on my phone for a while now. This is our season in a picture. We loved it! Then we lost the Super Bowl. It felt lost the minute the first play finished. Maybe the pressure was too much. It wasn't the Panthers night and it was hard to watch. But it was okay because we have next year! We have a young team. We were heartbroken, especially when we watched one of our players crying on the side line! It was a bummer, but they had the best record of the year and it was soooo fun to watch.
Then came Monday afternoon when I got on facebook (first mistake...I rarely leave FB feeling positively uplifted. Unless I was just on to chat with my cousin Shannon) and saw that every other post was about how much of poor sport Cam Newton was and the Panthers are a crappy team after all. How Cam was disrespectful and a horrible person. You name they were saying it. In an interview after the game (Cam was literally still in his uniform from the waist down...we are talking moments after losing the biggest game of his career!) and he walked out. Of course the reporters were asking him questions that made him feel like crap...but what was really hard was that he had to hear a player from the Broncos (who was being interviewed right next to him and later seemed to feel a little regret by blaming his cruel words on the NFL putting them to close together-he didn't know Cam could hear him) saying very disrespectful and cruel words about him. He was emotionally drained. He couldn't take it and Cam walked out. Should he have? I probably would have too...But now the world is jumping on his moment of pure, raw, emotion and taking the opportunity to kick him while he is down and point out all his other flaws. I posted a few things and basically told people to stop judging, spend more time building people up instead of tearing them down, and showing some grace. I wasn't rude, but I
really wanted to be. I just said what I felt. I couldn't stop feeling the need to protect and defend someone I don't even know. Because aren't we all that person some times? Haven't we all been kicked while we are down? Aaron reminded me that the Panthers (like the Patriots over the past few years) and Cam are hated now because they won so much and had fun doing it. People don't like that. When did we become that kind of country? We want people to fail..? I was consumed by this yesterday because it kind of is a snapshot of what is going on it our country today. We are a nation of haters. We hate the rich-take away there money and tax them harder! We hate truth-it's too hard, we want easy, and we want it now! We hate people excelling-I don't care how hard they worked-I should get it too!
The game was heartbreaking, but the bigger picture is what is really consuming me right now. Cam will be okay. The Panthers will come back and have a great season next year. I am just praying that the bigger picture gets clearer for our country as the Primaries start up. Are people going to vote for haters, bullies, and joy killers. Or are they going to vote for the freedom protectors, hard workers, and moral upholders...It is so weird were your brain takes you when you see hate poured on people so quickly when they are weak. I am going to be so much more conscious of not judging, picking on, or bringing people down when I could and should be celebrating the bright side.
