Spiritual awakenings are usually seen as things that can happen after years of yoga training, meditation, or while on a backpacking trip through an exotic location.
However, sport also offers up its very own variety of special spiritual awakenings. Here are just some of the ones that keen sports fans are eager to experience again and again.
Football away day victory
There is nothing sweeter in sports than following a team as they compete in a league or tournament which takes them all over the country or even a whole continent.
Such experiences most feel like spiritual awakenings when that same team upsets the odds, leaving you feeling as though it was you and them against the world.
Going through this with a small group of like-minded sports bettors and fanatical followers makes for one hell of a rush.
The horse racing weekend
If football away days are something to behold, then horse racing weekends or week-long festivals take things even further, treating betting punters and equestrian nuts to something close to spiritual enlightenment.
This feeling of elation is brought about by just how fine-tuned days at the races have become, with a comparison website such as Oddschecker providing the tips and free bets punters need to get their sports juices flowing before spectators start filling the grandstands in colorful hats, dresses, high heels, and flash suits.
Then, once the races get underway, the crowd surges towards the rail to bellow at the top of their lungs as the front runners tear towards the winning post.
Just when you think your spiritual awakening is over, you check the form guide on your phone and find there is still a bucket load more races to enjoy throughout the day.
The journey from small halls to huge arenas
Sport can often resemble a battle, but boxing is quite literally a fight to the finish. This makes following a boxer’s career all the more fulfilling.
This is made easier by social media channels such as YouTube and Instagram which allow fans to stay abreast of training, sparring, and the fight nights themselves.
There is nothing quite like following a fighter from small hall shows all the way to packed-out arenas, where they lift that world title belt and for all the world it feels like it’s you with the prize lofted above your head.