Everyone gets angry. But everyone deals with his or her anger in a different way. Some people keep it bottled up and choose to hide it all to themselves. Others vent to their friends. And others, like me, play a sport. Doing something you love in order to make your mind leave all the negative thoughts behind can be so refreshing and relieving.

I feel it is essential for all teens to learn adequate and effective ways to relieve stress or anger, or negative thoughts in general. If these bad thoughts and stress are built up to a certain point in a teenagers mind, they can have what’s commonly called a mental breakdown. We’ve all had them but some more than others. Usually girls are more susceptible to having a mental breakdown than boys are, due to constant changing emotions. But either way, if someone is on the verge of having a breakdown, they’ll need to find a way to relieve all that stress. Quickly.
Recently, I’ve learned the most effective way to get rid of my stress, and personally I feel it is a great way, not only for me but for other teens too, to clear my mind. I do gymnastics. It’s a sport I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember and I love it! To be a gymnast it takes flexibility, strength, and grace, but most of all, it takes determination. Gymnastics involves power, a sense of mental toughness, speed, and once again determination. One has to be patient and persistent if they are willing to succeed in doing just about anything, but in this case being a good gymnast.

As my mind is filled with anger and stress, I’m wired up for gym practice. My anger gives me the power I need to sprint full speed down the vault runway and propel my whole body over the horse. The release of energy after I land is exhilarating. After only a single vault, I’m already feeling relieved.

Doing what I love is kind of like an escape. The mind becomes so caught up and forgets the things I’ve wanted to forget. Of course gymnastics is not the only sport in the world that involves the mentality I previously mentioned. The list of sports that can be utilized to divert the mind off negative thoughts and relieve stress is endless; however, I chose gymnastics. Anyone can find a sport they truly enjoy, and to the best of their ability “play all their anger out.”