The majority of us have an interest in sports, particularly one specific sport that we value in many ways, from the sport itself to the athletes who compete in it. We enjoy cheering on and watching the athletes we admire; occasionally, we even compare ourselves to them in the hopes of surpassing them in their particular sport. But occasionally, we forget that idolizing a sports figure carries the same risks as idolizing any celebrity. When does admiration become idolization, and where does it end?
What Is Idealization?
Every admiration for sports begins with a positive encounter. When we find a sport we enjoy, we may play it or watch it, get inspired by it, develop a respect for the sport and its players, learn more about it, and so on. If you’d like to know more, you can find information about different sports on Bet Helper. However, when the idolization mechanism is activated, we run the risk of hurting ourselves in a reality that might not be as enjoyable.
Unpleasant outcomes may result from being overly inspired by an athlete to the point where we become engrossed in their persona. It is likely that you have already heard of people who are devoted to their idols, who are typically celebrities or other famous people. However, in the world of sports, everything operates in a similar manner. This is especially important if you play a sport and become unhealthily fixated on it in addition to watching it.
When admiration turns into idolizing — when someone gets unduly attached to their life and makes decisions based on what they would likely do — that is when unhealthy obsession begins. The worst kind of unhealthy obsession with athletes, though, is when you try to emulate them in your chosen sport and become just like them.
It is not uncommon, especially among younger people, to train and put pressure on oneself to become like your favorite football player or other athlete. However, doing so has many negative effects.
1# The Fun Goes Away
The primary issue with idealization is that it eliminates the enjoyment of sports. Your interest in the sport wanes when you focus solely on trying to emulate your favorite athlete or become fixated on their personal life and all that surrounds them.
Idolizing sportsmen can have the exact opposite effect, even though it may begin out of a deep passion for that sport. Most fans who have an unhealthy obsession with athletes start to lose sight of the positive aspects of the sport and concentrate only on the player. Instead of the team or sport, it focuses solely on their favorite athlete performing well. This applies to people who are fixated on watching athletes perform and those who participate in the sport and aspire to be like their heroes.
As soon as you start paying attention to one player’s performance, you start to lose interest in both the sport and the other players. Setting them aside will eventually drive you insane and reduce your enjoyment of the sport because they are all essential to its atmosphere and continued existence.
2# Can Lead to Mental and Physical Health Issues
With the advent of social media and the public availability of every sports star’s life, their activities have become more transparent, making it easy to follow and probe into their personal lives. Social media sites are designed to be addictive, and many users spend hours browsing their favorite pages, eventually making them feel inferior to others and causing them to compare themselves to them. Sports participation and the desire to emulate your favorite athlete can have a direct effect on your mental health because these factors are closely linked to your stress levels and sense of self-worth.
An excessive amount of celebrity obsession can cause one to lose their sense of self and autonomy over their own life. These seemingly exclusively mental health-related factors actually have a significant effect on our physical well-being because our thoughts determine our behaviors and identity.
Low self-esteem can lead to pressure to improve to the point where you adopt the “win at all costs” mindset that is so prevalent in the sports world. Attempting to emulate the well-known Ronaldo or Bolt and carrying this idea around with you can have negative effects on your practice methods and even result in injuries from overly rigorous training.
3# Athletes Influence Kids
Every kind of star is recognized for having enormous influence, particularly in the contemporary world in which information is readily available online. Children are undoubtedly the audience that celebrities target the most because they are prone to idolize those who appear more powerful and attractive than they do.
Children in the sports industry are especially vulnerable to developing an obsession with athletes because they are already under a lot of pressure from their parents or coaches.
When children look up to an athlete, they emulate them both on and off the field. It is, therefore, possible to acquire a wide variety of habits. Research indicates that celebrities greatly influence children and are motivated to act on the advice they receive from their role models. Children often fail to recognize both the good and the bad because, especially when they are young, they are unable to distinguish between the two. Unpredictable things, as well as issues with mental and physical health, may result from this.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can state unequivocally that enjoying a sport has nothing to do with developing an obsession with your idol. To enjoy the world of sports in a healthy way, one must be aware of the boundaries that separate these two ideas.
In today’s world, we are inundated with an inconceivably large amount of information. It is common to follow your favorite celebrities on the internet and learn about their personal lives, but there comes a point at which this interest runs the risk of becoming harmful to your physical and mental health, particularly if you participate in sports yourself.
We advise avoiding social media or, at the very least, remembering that you can not allow thoughts that are parasitic to affect you.
