I play Fantasy Baseball. Dynasty Fantasy Baseball. Unlike managers of traditional fantasy teams who compete against each other based on the performance of real life players over the course of the season, Dynasty managers keep the same team every year and try to improve through trade and an annual draft of Minor League Players.
I have spent three years rebuilding my team. I enjoy this process because I connect with friends, engage with a sport I love, and develop and implement a strategy. It’s also a low-stakes opportunity to experience the thrill of victory and the heartbreak of defeat. At the same time, I can easily get lost in endless analysis of statistics and hypothetical trades. I have to regularly ask myself, “Am I having fun?” And, more fundamentally, “Is this fulfilling?”
For the first time, my team made the playoffs this year. And in the first round of playoffs my team was neck-and-neck with my competitor. My nerves were on edge, fear of failure from past seasons whispered in my ear “How are my players doing?” “Did someone get benched?” “What if one of my players is hurt?”
However, I couldn’t check on any of it. I had chosen this night to go camping. With no cell signal. Even if there were a signal, there was quite literally nothing I could do. No more trades, no more strategy, no moves to squeeze another home run out of my team. Nothing to do but wait until tomorrow.
At the campsite, I laid in a hammock staring up at the trees. I noticed the leaves’ slow turn from green to yellow and the early fall breeze gently swaying the treetops. I reminded myself that, regardless of the outcome of my game, the world will continue. “Tonight the sun will set and tomorrow it will rise again.” The feeling was serene.
Fantasy sports emotions can be just like election emotions
What does this have anything to do with election season, you may ask? Well in preparation for the upcoming election, it is important to embrace the actions you can take ahead of time in order to minimize the experience of regret. And it is equally important to plan ahead for anxiety on the night of the election once there is quite literally nothing else to do.
Managing Regret
Regret comes from reflection. We look back at the past and feel sadness, disappointment, or remorse, often accompanied by a desire to have acted differently. Regret can arise from missed opportunities, mistakes, or outcomes that did not meet expectations. Even though these are natural feelings, there are ways you can mitigate the feeling so it is less intense. Here are 5 ways to minimize regret:
1- Recognize your values: Living without regret begins with recognizing where to place your values, time, and effort. Amidst the wormhole of my Fantasy Baseball strategizing and stressing, I had to keep asking myself, “Is this fulfilling?” For 15 minutes of reading baseball articles I’m having fun. After that, my time is better spent elsewhere. I can choose to live without regret about baseball because spending more time on it would take away from my other values, such as spending time with my family or enjoying the outdoors. What are your values when it comes to this election season? Are the ways you spend your energy around it fulfilling? Are they adding to your values or distracting from them?
2- Review what actions you can take: As in life, getting ready for the fantasy playoffs required careful preparation. I began with an honest review of my team. What are the strengths and weaknesses? Are there things I can do to make changes? This in essence is a review of what I could influence and what I could not. Consider which actions are realistically within your control and which are outside of your control. How can you distribute some small efforts amongst the three most common types of political involvement: volunteering, advocating, and donating.
3- Take Action: In my fantasy league, preparing for the playoffs meant doing the bulk of the work in advance. I had to make sure I had the right players in the right spots and I made all of these trades before the big event, not the night of it. Experiment and explore different forms of action in advance. Allow yourself to try new things and take calculated risks to broaden your experiences. Find organizations that support the issues you’re concerned about and begin to get involved.
4- Enjoy the Moment: As you are participating in the areas that are important to you, focus on the present rather than worrying about what might go wrong. There will always be “more” to do but it is impossible to do it all. Staying present in your involvement will make it more rewarding and reduce negative emotions. Embrace the uncertainty: Sometimes your catcher gets hurt, but your backup hits two home runs!
5- Observe and Adjust: Once you’ve done everything you can, the only thing left to do is mindfully observe it unfold. It’s only after seeing results that you can reflect. Look back at your experiences and review the balance between fulfillment, effort, time, and values. Celebrate the successes and embrace mistakes as part of the process. Was this a rewarding experience? Look ahead not back; are there adjustments to make in the present about your next actions? Can your time, talent, or finances be more effective elsewhere? Adjust accordingly!
Planning Ahead for Anxiety
Just as we can minimize our regrets, we can also plan ahead to manage and minimize our anxieties. The nagging fear of “will my Fantasy player get hurt” was tied directly to falling short in years’ past and although I mitigated my regret well this year, I still knew I was going to feel the anxiety come playoff night.
As the Fantasy Baseball playoffs began, my family trip to the woods was no accident. Part of my preparation for managing the emotional rollercoaster of watching my team win or lose was to separate myself entirely and embrace a different activity that is personally rewarding. This was my “cope ahead” plan, an intentional effort to prepare for an emotional event.
Some of the steps in a solid cope ahead plan for election season might include
- anticipating emotions
- connecting with a support system
- practicing healthy coping strategies
- managing media consumption
- engaging in positive or fun distractions
- and connecting with a community with shared values
Need help with how to prepare for your election emotions?
Managing emotions can be challenging, but sometimes we can anticipate and prepare for them. Feelings of helplessness and regret are not inevitable! If all of this resonates but you want more support in how to actually do it, consider joining us at our upcoming workshop “Getting ahead of election emotions”. With the support of two therapists, you will get guidance on reflecting on your values, make action plans for minimizing regrets, and create your own “cope ahead” plan for election anxiety.
We are running this workshop twice: once in-person in our Rockville office on Wed 10/16 for anyone local, and once online via google meets on Mon 10/14 so folks from all corners of the country can participate. It is the same program both nights!
PS: Want to know how my team did in the playoffs? Well, you’ll have to join us to find out 😉
About the Author
Kerry Järvi, LCPC is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and therapist at Montgomery County Counseling Center in Rockville, MD. He earned his Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Antioch University in Seattle, Washington in 2020 and holds a Play Therapy Certificate from the Antioch Center for Play Therapy. Kerry is also is an avid gamer (of both the online and board varieties) and sustainability activist! Kerry will be leading the workshop “Getting Ahead of Election Emotions” along with MCCC’s founder Laura Goldstein, LCMFT.
This is a fantastic and insightful post! Drawing parallels between fantasy sports and politics is a unique and thought-provoking perspective. It’s refreshing to see how managing emotions during elections can be compared to the strategies in fantasy sports. The blog does a great job of highlighting how emotions and decision-making play crucial roles in both fields, making it a valuable read for anyone looking to stay grounded during intense times. Thanks for sharing this interesting