What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

Today's goddamn prompt traumatized me, lol!😢

As a child, my parents took us skiing as a family every year. This is a sport I could actually succeed at. So out of all the sports, I think for me, skiing is the one I've found the most enjoyable, both as a participant and a spectator. As an adult, I could never afford to continue that tradition, and life always seemed to have other priorities. 

Many people find comradery and connection through organized team sports, whether it is as fans banding together in support of their favourite teams or through the team members themselves bonding and becoming close with each other through a shared goal. This is fine and dandy and I have no beef with that. However, team sports have never been my thing, not as a team member or a spectator. 

Back in the olden day times, when I was growing up, the teacher chose two team leaders and those leaders took turns choosing who they wanted on their teams. This was quite ethos-breaking for me, as I was always the last to be picked. I can only hope that teachers no longer practice this cruel form of exclusion with their students. 

I was not a coordinated child. I would run with a weird gait, flopping one of my hands as I ran. Additionally, was not into these kinds of sports in the least. I would space out and not pay attention so my classmates could hardly be blamed for not wanting me on their team. However, I knew it was not only my abysmal athletic prowess that caused me to be continually picked last. 

I was not a popular kid. I didn't really have many friends until high school, and even then, I was never fully accepted by the popular group, only tolerated. I was tolerated only because I had a few friends who were also mingling with that group. You see, I am from a very small community where class sizes were quite small. All age groups would hang out together at social gatherings.

Elementary School was really the worst time for me,for being rejected by my peers. Even in kindergarten, when we played farmer in the Dell, I was always the one picked last. I was the cheese standing alone. It's a terrible game to have children play, IMO. I lacked social skills from the very beginning. I did have friends tho. It was the First Nations kids that embraced me. They loved my fighting nature. They loved that I spoke up against authority. I had this one friend who invited me to her house every day for lunch. Her family was ever so welcoming towards me. The house was always crowded full of people and I was in the midst of it all, relishing in the experience.

I wasn't even going to answer today's goddamn prompt, but I decided to give it a go even though when it comes to sports, I am apathetic. However, that is not quite true. I have great admiration and respect for dancers, gymnasts, and figure skaters. I also think bike racing is pretty cool. My partner was an avid racer in the past. He now races for charity. Activities such as mountain climbing I have great admiration for. Outdoor sports such as skiing are fun. I did ski a lot as a child. Those kinds of sports, I am very fond of.

See, I like sports that are individualistic in nature. It also is great to be able to have some measure of ability in said sport. Learning to ice-skate and ski were great confidence builders for me. I had dance class for a while, and loved that too, except I wasn't very good. I was rejected from gymnastics class by the instructor, lol. I was scared to even do a somersault. I remember needing some kind of therapy to help my mind and my body make connections with each other. 

Oh, I also enjoy yoga. I would become giddy in groups, tho, so classes were not effective. At home, I often had my children or pets jumping around and making demands, lol! Not very relaxing or therapeutic. I have a yoga guru that I love. My mom gave me the videos, but I can't find them. 

I love to watch skiing and dancing the most, out of all sports. Mountain climbing also captivates me. In another life, I am an outdoor sports enthusiast. In that life I enjoy adrenaline inducing activities that get my juices flowing, making me feel alive. I skydive. I mountain climb. I ski.

That's about it for me today. Thank you ever so much for reading my stuff!