When I was young, I followed soccer much more closely than I do now. I had more time on my hands I guess. During that time, I paid more attention to local and national US teams, but I knew that Brazil was the place to be for an unforgettable time. My younger self would be ecstatic to hear that I got to go to a game in Sao Paulo!
The game was everything that I hoped for; the thrilling feeling of the crowd cheering, singing, and booing sent chills down my spine. You could feel the energy from the stadium hit you.
Most of my experience with soccer, when I was younger, came from playing rather that watching. I come from house league experience, which means that crowds were small, and players (like myself) were average. This was the first time I saw a game with such a large crowd. Professional players are a whole different breed of human. Their dedication to the sport is amazing, and I hope that I have that kind of dedication to music (my passion) as time goes on.
57,399 people in one place, all united through a love for a sport. What a human thing that is. I know that sounds really cheesy, but when does anyone ever see this many people in one spot? Passion is a strange thing. It can motivate us to do our best, it can give us purpose and direction, but taken too far it can become all consuming. Too much passion causes someone to become too engrossed in what they do and see nothing else. Not enough, and any potential a person has never comes to be.
In my life, I have experienced this battle with passion. For a while, I loved soccer a lot. I even wanted to be an Olympian, but did not have enough passion to start training young. When I realized this, I still kept training but I decided that I needed to shift my focus. Through much trial and error, music became my new passion. I still love soccer, but not enough to choose it over music. I do not regret my choice to choose music over soccer because I am called to be a music therapist. The fact that music can be used to heal and that we can use our God-given creativity to touch hurting people is a blessing! I do not have enough time or words to express how awesome that is.
While watching this game, I was thinking about tiny me. What would she think about this experience? If she were to see this game at 10, would my life had turned out differently? This game showed me that passion for something is a powerful driving force that should be used wisely. When watching this game, I realized that passion is a good thing, and I should not shy away from what I feel passionate about.
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