Self-Improvement

"Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose – it teaches you about life." – Billie Jean King

I think this thought perfectly describes how important sports are in the life of any human. While some people may begin doing sports only in adulthood, it is much more beneficial to start from early childhood.

As I mentioned above, sports have the highest influence on our life. And we can see this influence in different spheres. Obviously, the first and the main important point of influence of sports in our lives is our health. There are thousands of studies that confirm this. There are some arguments from them such as “regular physical activity can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers by up to 50%” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The World Health Organization (WHO) states that people who are regularly active live on average 3–7 years longer than those who are sedentary. In this way we can see that sports bring a lot of positive effects on our health. And we know that health is the foundation of happiness and success in our lives!

Another important part of that complex influence of sports is mental health. The National Institute of Mental Health found that just 30 minutes of moderate exercise three to five times per week can reduce symptoms of depression by 40–50%. Also, a study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry (2021) found that regular aerobic exercise reduces symptoms of anxiety by up to 60% in both clinical and non-clinical populations. This clearly shows that sport is a good alternative to meditation and affects our life in a positive way more than just pursuing a beautiful body. It affects all aspects of our life as mental health has the same importance as physical health.

Additionally to good well-being, we need to have good social skills to function successfully in life and sports also give you this. Sports help people become more confident and improve their social skills. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that playing sports teaches teamwork, communication, and leadership for both kids and adults. When people play on a team, they learn how to work with others and trust each other. Winning, learning, and setting goals in sports also builds self-esteem. These skills are useful in everyday life, school, and work.

A child who starts doing sports from early childhood will have good physical and mental health. He has strong social skills and character. All this allows him to be successful on the first stage of his life - he finishes high school with perfect results, with a lot of friends and he is completely ready for the next level - to adult life. And here sports allows him (because he knows what is discipline and power of will) to receive a diploma from university and get a good job. He continues to do sports all this time and throughout the years. He sees that most of his colleagues and friends have much more health and life problems, but he has a good and much more interesting life because of a much bigger amount of movement in it. And finally, at the old age because he kept moving and doing sports all his life he sees a giant difference between the quality of his life and most of the people around him. He sees a large number of old, sick people, against the background of which he appears to be a person full of life and health, who enjoys this life in retirement, instead of constant pain, heaviness and visits to the hospital. In my opinion, that's the best illustration of the influence of sport on human life.