Thursday, December 16, 2004

football, anyone?

what a day of football.

first, i was invited to play futsal with my sec school friends. having never kicked a ball in my life, except perhaps when collecting volleyballs for the inter-house volleyball championships, i was terrified at the thought of running around trying to control a runaway ball.

*shudder*

told my friend i'd think about it.

5mins later, i got a frantic phone call from another pal, asking me to join her in supporting a football match because she was, err, "afraid" to go at it alone.

sounds good. i am, after all, a couch manager. i manage my fave footie teams on tv from my dad's lazy chair.

the downside? it's miles from my place. and i, being practically paralysed due to the lack of a driving license, could not manage to get transportation.

so, i took a shower, changed reluctantly into shorts and a tee, and prayed that everyone else would be as much as klutz as i am with a ball, so that i won't look too bad running in the futsal court.

it. was. smashing.

i mean, i almost died on the court, since the last time i did any physical activity besides digest food was 2 weeks ago when i took 30mins to complete 2.4km. but it was great to feel the ol' heart pumping well-oxygenated haemoglobin to my muscles, which were probably on the verge of initialising autolysis. making my sweat glands work was an exhillarating feeling, thanks to the endorphins released in my brain.

although i did gain back the calories i used up, by eating assam laksa for dinner, it just felt good. by the time i walked past the giant tv screen showing a classic man utd vs chelsea match (a footie-mad friend and i looked puzzled for a while at the presence of our hero cantona), i was smiling from ear to ear.

i guess the main thing wasn't the football or the pain-killing neurotransmitters being secreted in my synapses. it was the joy at doing something that i've never done before. i mean, two years ago, i would have politely declined or used the excuse "my mother's not happy about that" if i were invited to play futsal. or go "support" a football match with my friend, for that matter. i'd have stayed at home, hoping that i wouldn't regret rejecting the offer, wallowing in self-denial believing that i'm having a better time in bed, reading a novel.

it was...a sense of adventure, although playing futsal is definitely not something people would associate with adventure. you just have to understand that i used to be much more boring than i am now. i still feel the urge to just decline all invites to go bowling, swimming, or anything outside my comfort zone of books and the computer. but i'm starting to shake it off.

in the words of the "old bean" of the sajc scholars, "change is good".

football, anyone?

lishun at 10:31 PM

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