High Five: Little League World Series

As I sit here and watch the Little League World Series I find myself continually amazed at the sportsmanship of these kids. In the picture above you will see a kid high fiving an opponent that just hit a home run off of his team. That is a spectacular thing to see, for many reasons.

These kids are in the most important and high pressure games of their young lives. For crying out loud it's the Little League World Series! Kids dream about playing in these games for their whole lives, and now they are finally getting the opportunity to do so. And, despite wanting to be crowned the best little league team in the world, they still high five opponents that are currently trying to prevent their dreams from becoming a reality. That is beautiful.

The sad part is you will only see this type of behavior with young kids. For some reason the act of congratulating or giving props to an opponent slowly dies with age. You will never see a major league baseball player high five an opponent who hits a home run off of their team. You will never see an NFL cornerback high five a receiver who just burnt him for a TD. You will never see an olympic runner high five another runner as she runs past her for the win. 

People will say its because as we get older we get more mature and recognize what it really means to compete. We can't be high fiving opponents, we need to focus. But these kids are fierce competitors. They are competing with all of their hearts and souls, yet they can still give props when props are due. 

But this lack of sportsmanship doesn't only apply to sports, it is everywhere in the world.

It is present in the workforce, it is present in the classroom, hell it isn't even present in rap music. That's right, I'm talking about you Drake and Meek Mills. Dammit, Meek! Just give props to Drake for being a good rapper and songwriter and go give your anaconda to Nikki Minaj, damn. 

Okay, that just got a little weird. Moving on.

My point is, we need to stop being so overly competitive in our lives. We need to stop hating on others successes. We can continue to compete without losing our generosity. We must continue to encourage every individual, whether they are in direct competition with us or not.

So, the next time somebody hits a home run off of you, don't get angry, just give them a high five and keep grinding. 

SOME OF THEM EVEN TRADED HATS, I LOVE IT!

Sidenote: I am currently watching the Chinese Taipei and Uganda game. Uganda just lost the game and got eliminated from the Little League World Series. How do they react?

Each Uganada player gave every Chinese Taipei player a hug... AND THEN THEY TOOK A GROUP PICTURE TOGETHER!! This is amazing! I love the Little League World Series! 

Let's all learn how to live our lives like these little leaguers live theirs.

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