Brooke Guttenberg, M.S.

Over the past month, all over the world, the World Cup has gained a lot of attention. For someone like me who was never a big soccer fan, I was surprised to find that I have been bitten with the soccer bug. As I allowed myself to become engrossed with the latest World Cup news and games, I started noticing that not only is this competition entertaining, but also a great learning tool. I am not just talking about a great way to learn about the sport, but also life and more specifically REBT.

Teams coming to the World Cup are comprised of the top players in the world. Players may come from different countries and backgrounds, but they arrive as teammates with the same goal in mind, win for their country. Players may have trained their whole lives for such an opportunity, but even so they do not arrive with certainty. The fact is that only one team can win the Cup. A team may be a favorite going into the game, a goal in the last minute by an opponent may be the break the underdog needs to advance. Players may trip and some may fall, but one thing you know is that as long as the player can stand up, that they will. Referees make calls throughout the game and often they are calls that we do not agree with. The players are left with a choice, keep playing or keep playing with more determination. A bad call is not going to deter these athletes.

So, what did I learn from the World Cup? No matter how much we may prepare, prep, and plan there are no guarantees. Yes, we may study an extra hour or read over our presentation two more times, but nothing is certain. We can guarantee that there will be times when we fall and we may fall again. It is the moments when we choose to pick ourselves up that give way to growth. Just because we have a misstep on the field does not mean the game is lost. However, it is those moments where it can be helpful to find our own teammates to root us on. For every teammate, we will also find those referees who may make a questionable call. Just as the players cannot control what the ref’s may say, we can decide how we would like to react. This is where REBT comes into play.

Each team has a goalie who has a pretty big responsibility. He will make every attempt to guard the goal and protect his team. As we know, in life, we cannot always guard against every situation. As the goalie has his defenders to help him, we can use REBT as our own personal defender to help pad us in different situations. We can practice and fine tune our skills to allow us to not only change our emotional, but also behavioral reactions.

However, even if we have a strong defense, just because we try does not mean that we will always succeed. There may be situations in which we slip back into old habits. At those times, it is important to realize that eventually we will regain procession of our ball, and we will have the ability to try again. Just as any soccer player can attest, the ball will come back our way, and although it may be difficult to protect the goal ourselves, it can be helpful to have an assist from the REBT playbook.