An Interesting Perspective
Zinedine Zidane & the Three Headed Monster
Posted by David Romanelli
Lust, anger and greed, these three are the soul-destroying gates of hell.” -Bhagavad Gita
If you were one of the billion people who watched Sunday’s World Cup final, you saw French superstar Zinedine Zidane struck by an affliction to which no human can claim immunity: ANGER. Many soccer experts, aficionados, and critics agree that Zidane is soccer’s greatest player of the last 20 years. Pele, the Brazilian legend, refers to Zidane as Maestro. Zidane’s proven skill and leadership already lifted France to the 1998 World Cup championship. But in Sunday’s final with the whole world watching and for a reason nobody understands, the French legend angrily headbutted an Italian player in the chest leading to Zidane’s subsequent red card and ejection. France went on to lose in a penalty kick shootout… Zidane’s specialty.
This is a lesson the yogis have passed down for thousands of years. No matter their talent, strength, or determination, every single human being is susceptible to anger, lust, and greed. To live out the depth of one’s purpose, he must develop the skills to overcome this three-headed monster. Zidane faced the monster and sorely lacked what the The Dalai Lama referred to as the rarest form of human strength: the ability to maintain an open heart in a moment of extreme anger.
Here are some techniques to develop this rare form of strength and cope with anger:
- Make a habit of taking that oh so difficult first step away from the situation, person, email or phone call that incites your wrath. Walk the other direction, turn off your phone, shut down your computer. It’s always worth it.
“If you are patient in 1 moment of anger you will avoid 100 days of sorrow.” -Zen proverb
- Kill ‘em with kindness. Tell the person who pisses you off how much you love them. Tell the person who drives you nuts how much you appreciate their testing your “strength.” Tell the person who makes you crazy that no matter how mad, you won’t pull a “Zidane.”
“As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” -Albert Schweitzer
- Open your heart…literally. The yogis believe that even a basic backbend opens the heart evoking love. Be your own hero next time you face the three-headed monster. Take a step back, interlace your hands behind your back, let the chest and heart protrude slightly forward, and take a few deep breaths. This will instantly open the heart and dissipate anger.
I found the article very interesting, though it in no way justifies what happened. I honestly still cannot believe it. It was as the game entered a parallel universe. To make the comparison, what Zidane did is akin to a D-Wade punching a Mavs player in the 3rd quarter of a game 7 and getting tossed, when there was still a 4th quarter to be played, or a Jeter getting ejected in the 8th inning when he still has an at-bat coming in the 9th of the World Series. Unbelievable, for a player THAT supremely gifted and talented to blow it that spectacularly, what a way to end. I'll still remember him as probably the greatest player I've ever seen play live (Pele, Maradonna were obviously before my time), but he really, truly blew it and that will haunt him forever.
EDIT: The latest development is that the Italian player said something extremely offensive about Zidane's mother (Something along the lines of 'I'm going to lseep with her until she dies') and as it turns out, his mom is gravely ill, which would probably trigger most people to be pissed. Not headbutt another, especially during a championship perhaps, but it throw new light on things. Zidane was still wrong, very wrong, but the Italian player seems increasingly like a scumbag too.
Take care all.
Adieu,
Devin.