Beware This Madness -
The cameras and the crowd loved what happened next. Overcome with excitement and pride, Cassell sprinted back on defense, arms hanging low between his legs in a cradle-like motion, performing his now-infamous "Big Balls" dance. It was a celebration of triumph, a gesture of swagger.
But in the midst of this moment of glory, Cassell suffered a small avulsion fracture in his hip. The Timberwolves, the number-one seed with home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, ultimately fell to the Lakers in the conference finals in six games. Limited by injury, Cassell was barely a factor.
With hindsight, no one would trade an NBA championship for a few seconds of celebration or taunting. But that’s the thing about passion—it blinds us.
It carries us away. It clouds our judgment. It makes patience impossible. It silences restraint. It pulls us toward temptation. It refuses to ignore a slight.
Oh, what this costs us. Oh, what we come to regret.
Sometimes, it’s a moment of arrogance or excitement. Or anger. Or anxiety. Or greed. Or envy. Or lust...
Think of the powerful men and women whose careers were derailed by a scandal. They had power, influence, a bright future ahead—so what possessed them to risk it all for fleeting pleasure? Why would someone as courageous and principled as Martin Luther King Jr. betray his marriage in those squalid hotel rooms?
The philosopher Democritus wasn’t wrong when he called sex a “mild madness.” It clouds our judgment. It makes us reckless. It drives us to shame.
Anger is just a slightly less mild form of madness.
Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad, said another philosopher.
Abraham Lincoln understood this well. His famous “hot letters” were written in fits of anger but never sent—tucked away in a drawer instead of delivered to their deserving recipients. By contrast, Harry Truman, a generally disciplined president, let his temper slip in moments of passion. The most pointless scandals of his presidency stemmed from the sharp, unfiltered notes he actually sent—including one to a New York Times critic who had written unfavorably about his daughter.
Alas, anger got the best of one of the best of us.
Nearly every regret, every mistake, every embarrassing moment—whether personal, professional, or historical—has one thing in common: someone lost control of their emotions. Someone got carried away. Someone acted out of fear or defensiveness. Someone wasn’t thinking beyond the next few seconds.
If you can’t rein in your impulses now—if you can be jerked around like a puppet today—how do you think it will go when you reach the level you aspire to? When you have power? When people start making excuses for you? When you have resources at your disposal—but a much smaller margin for error?
People doing less important things might get away with losing control. You can’t.
You can’t afford a moment of ego or excitement that costs you—and your team—a championship. You can’t afford an impulsive decision that undermines years of training. You can’t afford to let passion block out the calm, steady light of reason.
Maybe others can. But not you.
Does this mean you should never be spontaneous or express your emotions? Of course not. Love and be loved—feel passion.
The key is knowing when to hold back. It’s stopping yourself from saying something cruel to the person you love in a moment of anger. It’s resisting the temptation that could betray their trust. It’s understanding that feeling anger is natural—but acting on it is a choice.
And for anger, we could substitute so many other emotions we feel intensely in the moment.
The key is to slow down. Think things through. Don’t let yourself be driven by forces you don’t understand or control.
Just as an addict learns to recognize the warning signs of a craving, we must identify the moments where self-discipline can step in—before we get carried away. Whether it’s anxiety or aggression, lust for a person or a thing, the rush of celebration, or the weight of uncertainty, we must be ready to pull the emergency brake.
Because if we don’t, the momentum of our emotions will carry us too far—until we crash into a wall.
Shared by: Cancelo Alvarez
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