Reminders from the Men's World Cup

Michelle never expected to become a soccer fan, but the Men’s World Cup pulled her in fast.

In this episode of This Is Nothing New™, she shares the reminders she found in the tournament: the power of community, the joy of being a beginner again, the clarity that comes from participation, and why talent means very little without character.

It’s a light, personal episode about learning something new, finding unexpected joy, and paying attention to the lessons hiding in the things we love.

Connect with Michelle:

Website: michellegruening.com
Instagram: @michellegruening
LinkedIn: Michelle Gruening

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hey y'all, and welcome to This Is Nothing New. I'm your host, Michelle Grooning, and this is a show where we drop the trends, get back to the basics, and uncover those lessons hiding in everyday life. Along with, you know, a couple billion people, I got really into the Men's World Cup this year. I have never been one to watch soccer or football, whatever you call it. Uh, it was one of the few sports I never played, and I just never really got into it. But there was something about this year. I'm sure it's because America was hosting quite a few of the games, but also all of North America was coming at this together. And I thought, you know what, I'm gonna actually get into it this year. And I was not disappointed, y'all. I took away so many reminders and lessons from really diving into the World Cup atmosphere and culture over, you know, the few few weeks it was happening. And one of my favorite things that I witnessed and experienced, at least through social media, was the joy that people were experiencing when they were traveling to the States for the first time. And we all saw all the footage of the Tartan Army, all of the Scottish fans taking over Boston and then eventually Miami. And one of the things that I learned and just really was reminded of was that we are so much more alike than we are different. I mean, so many people were traveling to America for the first time and sharing a lot of what they were warned about before coming. Because there's that quote that I shared in my newsletter last month that is something like if you want to hate a country, watch the news. If you want to love a country, meet its people. And I'm just so proud of the way that America opened its arms, welcomed these fans in, and really showed them a beautiful experience around a sport that is a global passion. And it's a reminder that joy can be found anywhere and everywhere. Even in the darkest of times, it reminds me of one of my absolute favorite quotes from the Harry Potter universe, specifically by Alba Dumbledore, where he says, happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light. And I think for a lot of people, the Men's World Cup experience we just had was the light that many people needed to be turned on to really delve and dive into happiness and joy and celebrating with their fellow humans. It was such a powerful reminder to me that the best way to experience new cultures, new people, is to go to them, to engage in the things that they value and they treasure. And I think that's one of the coolest things that happened a lot with the tourists that came here for the World Cup, is that they were seeking out the rodeo and line dancing bars. They, thinking of the Tartan Army specifically, they went to children's hospitals and donated to local charities. They also put traffic cones on all of the statues, which I just think is hilarious. There were people seeking out specific experiences that are part of American culture. And so if you're an American listening to this, take that as a reminder that when you travel to other countries and other cultures, seek out the things that they love and hold dear to really get that local experience. And so the one of the biggest reminders I took away is that community is all around us. And the best way to build that community is to come together over common joys. Now, the other thing for me that the Men's World Cup reminded me of is that it's okay to be a beginner again. And it's never too late to find new things to be excited about. So, as I mentioned, I never have really been into soccer. Um, but it just felt like the right time to get into it. So I did. And I will say it took me a solid couple of weeks to figure out the offside rule, which I still think is very subjective. But I'm working on it. I still don't know all of the different positions, which is fine. But I was asking questions of people who knew more about soccer than I did. If I want to learn, I'm going to ask the questions. And too often we get embarrassed or we feel awkward when we're trying to learn something new because we have to be a beginner again. And as adults, we are the worst at being beginners. And so the reminder I got was if somebody makes fun of you for trying to learn something new, we don't care what their opinion is, anyways. So focus on the people who are interested in teaching and educating people who are passionate about soccer. I could learn from them and up my own knowledge. And so through this whole tournament, you know, I was, of course, cheering for the US team at first, but I was also cheering for Norway and Croatia. Basically, I was cheering for all the countries that I visited or have a heritage in. But I learned after the US team got knocked out, and I was, you know, I kept having to switch my teams I was rooting for. I really enjoyed watching the teams that played really hard, but you could also tell they were having fun and that they still had a love for the game. But also they seemed like pretty decent people. There's that player Erling Holland from the Norway team who just captivated most of soccer fans around the world because he, to me, just seems like a goofy dude. You know, he's incredibly skilled and talented at the game. But it also seems to me like he knows it's not his entire identity. You know, he wore his mother's name on the back of his jersey jersey as a nod to her and to honor her. But also he was having fun. I mean, there's a picture of him returning to Norway with literally a taxidermied raccoon holding a liquor bottle. And if that doesn't scream eclectic, I'm not sure it does. But I was really drawn to the teams who you could tell they were a team. They were united, they were working together. And so for me, once the US got knocked out, I was cheering for Norway, and then they got knocked out. So then I was cheering for England, and then they got knocked out. And then I cheered for Spain. So I finally got one right in the final match uh during the finals. But I never thought I would get so invested in the World Cup. And once I got all of this knowledge, now I'm like, well, I don't want all my newfound soccer knowledge to go to waste. So my husband and I are looking into Premier League teams, not the real big ones. We don't want to just jump on the bandwagon of one of the most successful teams, but maybe some of the lesser-known ones. So we're taking into account those things that we really enjoy, like teams that play hard and they have fun, but also their uh their football club makes good decisions about the types of players they bring in and the camaraderie around it. And I think that perspective is probably influenced by Ted Lasso, um, which is fine. But that's also taught me a bit more about soccer. So it's okay to be a beginner. If there's something you've wanted to learn, but just feel a little embarrassed, I encourage you just start asking questions. Just start learning. There might be your most favorite hobby you will ever find in your entire life, but you will never know about it because you're not asking questions on how to get started. So if you've been thinking about something, consider this your push. And speaking of that, one of the things my friend reminded me about that I watched a lot of games with is that clarity often comes from participation. Clarity comes from taking action. And so sometimes we have to be in it to know what outcome we want. So one of my friends who I watched a lot of the games with, she would always make me laugh because we would be watching games and we would ask each other, okay, who are you rooting for in this game? And she would say, I don't really know. Um, and then the game would get underway and she would be cheering naturally for one of the teams as they did, as they made positive plays. And throughout the games, we'd be like, Oh, you're you're definitely cheering for Spain in this game. And she would laugh and say, Oh my gosh, I think I am. But part of that is a lot of times we don't know what outcome we're rooting for until we start taking action. So we could be sitting here, all like, let's take this away from soccer for a second. Let's just put this into our regular life. How many outcomes are you trying to figure out right now, but you have literally taken no action toward? We all have at least one in our life. We are so used to wanting to think our way to clarity that we think we have to wait to have clarity before we can take any action. But it's that's opposite. Clarity comes from action, not before it. And so just how my friend wasn't sure what outcome she was rooting for until the game got underway, that could be happening for you as well. You know, maybe you're hoping for a big goal to come to fruition, but until you actually start putting work toward it, you're not gonna know if it's true for you, if it's aligned for you. So remember that clarity comes from getting into motion. Stop waiting to figure it out before you take any action. Let the action be part of the process of figuring it out. One of the things that has really stuck with me is that reminder that your actions speak so much louder than your reputation. And I'm talking about the Argentinian team. People are gonna forget what they accomplished, but they will never forget how that Argentina team behaved after they were defeated by Spain. And yeah, Argentina, they came out, they were aggressive, they played hard. Some could say violent. Some could also argue that they were shepherded all the way to the finals by some of the calls that they did and did not receive throughout the entire tournament. But when they were defeated by Spain, that's what I'm going to remember about the Argentina team. That is going to be the image that I have of them. That they are poor sports and they had a very low emotional regulation, and they had an inability to accept defeat with grace, but rather they did it with literal physical violence. I mean, attacking the Spain players, and that was just a whole embarrassment at the end of the game. We have to remember that we might be the best at what we can do. We might be highly skilled, highly accomplished, and have a reputation for being winners, but none of that matters if we behave without dignity, if we have no sportsmanship, and if we cannot gracefully accept defeat. But the reminder for me really was people will often forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. I am so excited for the Women's World Cup, which is next year, and the U.S. women's team is far superior than the men's team in terms of tournament success and overall winning record. So I'm very excited to continue this soccer knowledge into the Women's World Cup next year, which is being held in Brazil, which should be super fun to watch. But all of this whole experience, it allowed me to dive deep into a new topic, to be a beginner again, to learn again. It helped me realize that wow, I have a lot of strong opinions about soccer once I started learning the rules. And I still think offside is a dumb rule. I would love to debate that with somebody. This is just a reminder that there are some powerful lessons hiding in the sports that we love. And even though the World Cup is over, I know I'm going to take a lot of these lessons and reminders with me. So with that, keep cheering for your team, keep finding community and seek out those little joys. I'll catch y'all next time.