Mental Fitness for Good Health

Ron Artest and Adam Mair on the Family

Two different sports personalities were in the news. 

Ron Artest, forward for the Sacramento Kings, made headlines again for violent behavior.  Sam Rubinstein of The People’s Champ reported that Ron Artest was arrested for domestic violence.  Lang Whitaker of The Links also posted on Artest’s domestic violence arrest.

In contrast to Ron Artest, I read an article on Adam Mair, a Buffalo Sabre hockey player, and his wife.  Adam and his wife, Alli, talked to a group of children about teamwork. 

What can we learn from these two professional athletes regarding mental fitness in the family?

I have blogged before about the importance of seeing a marriage or family as a team.  Daniel Pye of the Lockport Union Sun and Journal wrote an article entitled, "Coaching Kindness, Sabres forward, wife pitch in at SPCA."      

Pye wrote:

Mair focused on the importance of teamwork in achieving success, whether the task is training dogs or scoring points. Peers need to be supportive even when members of a team don’t succeed in individual tasks, Mair said.

“You should never get mad at somebody for trying their best,” Mair said. “Just because someone missed a shot is no reason to be mad. We’re competitive and we want to win, but to do that we have to work together.”

What Mair wrote about hockey applies to family life.  Unfortunately,  Artest never learned what Mair taught the children. 

Domestic violence within families including spousal abuse could be reduced, if it was remembered that a family is a team.  All members of the family are on the same side.  All members of the family have shared goals.

If Mair’s ideas were applied to the family, family life could be tremendously improved.

Mair emphasized:

1.  Teamwork is necessary for success,

2.  Support a family member who makes a mistake,

3.  Assume family members are doing their best,

4.  Don’t get angry when someone makes a mistake,

5.  There are rules and boundaries for acceptable behavior.

The children added two more important strategies for the game plan for satisfying family life:

6.  Treat people with respect and

7.  Treat people with care.

Unfortunately, Ron Artest does not appear to have learned this game plan for good family relations. 

Everyday, we will have opportunities and choices to think, feel and act like Ron Artest or Adam Mair.

Remember, You Live within the Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

From a mental fitness perspective, it is possible to be physically fit and mentally lacking in fitness.  Athletes like many people can be extremely well fit in some areas of their lives, but fail to show mental fitness in their personal life or at home with their families. 

A goal of The North Star Institute is to help athletes and others achieve high levels of success in their personal and family life; not just in their professional life.

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