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| The opposite of humble. |
Picture this. You’ve been embroiled in a Yahtzee League and you are killing it. You're scores are incredible and every roll's a winner. You feel untouchable. In times like these it can be very easy to let it go to your head. It's natural, we've all done it, and we'll all probably do it again. The only problem is, when you let your successes overcome you, it can be damn near impossible to keep your mouth shut.
You may be tempted to talk incessantly about your victories or, worse still, brag about them. You may emit an aura of cocky self assurance and smugness that makes your fellow competitors release a contemptuous groan. Even worse than all of this, you may want to inform your opponents how they will never be able to catch up to you and any attempt to do so is an exercise in futility. You may even begin to compare yourself to other sporting greats or even the Messiah. There are countless ways your own ego can hijack your personality, but be warned, this path can be fraught with danger.
When you suffer an ego attack such as the one described above, it can often cause you to become somewhat shortsighted. What you seem to forget is that nothing lasts forever. There will come a time, whether in the league you're currently playing or the next, when your star will fall. The streak and the scores scores will dry up and you'll be scratching about for any score worth your time and trying desperately to keep yourself an active threat in the league. Aside from the bad scores from an occurrence of a bad run, there are very real negative effects to being cocky that should be considered.
When you start losing it is likely that your fellow competitors will remember what an utter turd you were when things were working well for you and they will waste no time making you eat every single word. Every bad roll and every shonky score will be called into question. They will ask you why you're so shit all of a sudden and they will point and they will laugh. And, to be quite frank, you deserve it, don't you? Being a pompous gobshite very rarely goes unpunished in the end.
Also, an ego trip while you're on a good run can mess with the old brain box. As mentioned previously, it can make you feel invincible. But when the party's over, it can all come crashing down. The sudden change in fortune can affect your game tenfold. Because you've built yourself up to such a degree in your head the fall from grace can feel magnified to such a degree that your games go from just bad to plain awful because that high you were experiencing makes the low feel exponentially worse.
So what's the answer? Lucky for you, there is one. Now, losing is never gonna feel great, but there is a way to stem the feeling that a loss is tantamount to armageddon. And it's so bloody simple. Just STAY HUMBLE. Keep yourself on an even keel, whether you're winning or losing. No-one is suggesting you shouldn't enjoy your victories, of course you should, just don't let it get to your head. Don't brag, don't get cocky and most importantly, don't be a twat. That way your opponents won't be tempted to rub your nose in it everytime you lose. Winning streaks come and go, as do losing streaks. It's best to understand that. The cockier you are when you're winning, the longer it seems to last when you're losing. Trust me, I learned the hard way!
So, in my opinion, remaining humble is one of the most important aspects of any competitive sport, not just Yahtzee. If you can keep a level head, any loss you may suffer will not have nearly the same impact as it would if you were a gobby shit before hand. You won't suffer the well earned abuse and ridicule, because you managed to keep your mouth shut while winning, and when it comes to losing, that's important and it will more than likely have a positive impact on the length of your losing streaks. So think on, good buddy. Act like a twat and suffer the consequences. Act like a human, reap the rewards...
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