Becoming a Tottenham Hotspur fan is one of the worst decisions I have ever made, but I do not regret it for a second. It’s led to lots of unhappiness but also given me a sense of purpose, however futile that may be. Ultimately, wellbeing comes and goes but sense of purpose keeps us going.
It all began at a North London primary school in the 1980s. About half of the kids in my class supported Tottenham, the other half supported Arsenal. It was a coin toss and I made the fateful choice.
Since then I’ve watched Arsenal go unbeaten for a whole season, win titles and cups, while Tottenham have won… not so much. Perhaps most devastatingly of all, I’ve seen Spurs be defeated in numerous finals. So close and yet so far.
Those defeats were hard to watch and left me in a bad mood, sometimes for quite a while. But being a Tottenham fan is part of who I am and it gives me a sense of purpose, structuring much of my week and year.
That sense of purpose is an important but slippery thing. It’s something we support people to develop at 999 Club.
Sense of purpose is linked with what we do, and our health and ability to do it. That means at 999 Club we focus on supporting people to find work, improve their health, levels of physical activity and engagement in cultural activities
The best way to do this is to support people that use our services to pursue their own goals, building on their interests and developing their sense of purpose. It wouldn’t work if we tried to get everyone to be Spurs fans, but if we support someone who is an Arsenal fan that can lead to some interesting conversations about how they want to spend their time. Maybe they want to go to games or to meet other fans. If they want to do that, how do they think they should go about doing that and how can we support them in that?
Just as being a Spurs fan does not guarantee happiness, we cannot guarantee that the people that we support will always go on to live happy and healthy lives. What we can guarantee is that we support everyone that uses our services to not just find a home but to develop their sense of purpose. If they do develop a strong sense of purpose then they will be better placed to keep going when times get tough and life throws barriers up. That’s the best way to make sure the people that use our services do not just find a home, but stay in their home.