Here is an example of the contrast in outcomes; a sample from the 2022 Soccer World Cup. When someone is adaptive over being rigid, there is a definite chance that will favor those who know how to adapt! There is much to learn from how Ronaldo and Messi ended their world-cup participation. The difference was in their approach. Ronaldo's conduct was out-of-tune with his understanding of his state as a player, and Messi's conduct was in-tune with his own. But that made all the difference in how they ended their prime time!
Ronaldo, 37, flailed because he couldn’t adapt to his physical decline. He insisted on playing as if he were 10 years younger. By acting as if he was essential, he became superfluous. And in his final game, a flaccid defeat to Morocco, he came off the bench, contributed little, then left the field in tears - without shaking hands with his opponents or consoling his bereft teammates. It was a pathetic way to exit.
That’s the counterpoint to Messi’s victory. Without the legs to carry him, Messi economized his movements. Rather than pretending that he was a young man, he played like an older one. He ambled through games, saving himself for the moments that he could assert himself. He showed a remarkable awareness about how he might be able to parcel out his dwindling corporeal self, how he needed to make choices about when to give himself fully.
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