Years ago while I was in school, I worked at at the Cougar Club for a year. I learned a lesson about perspective during that football season, which was not one of our best seasons. One loss particularly drove me batty.

The next Monday when I got to work, the assistant director asked me how my weekend was. I responded with something about how it was ruined by the game on Saturday. His response was, "I decided long ago that I wasn't going to let my happiness be affected by how a bunch of kids play in a game."

I kind of couldn't believe his attitude at first — here was a guy whose job basically depended on the outcome of "how a bunch of kids play in a game." Yet he was able to separate the score from his personal happiness. But what he said sunk in, and I realized that he's a great guy with a great family and a great life, and that is independent of a game.

As a die-hard fan, I still predict we'll go undefeated each season, and I follow all things BYU very closely. But I learned something that day, and I've incorporated it into my attitude toward sports. I still hope we win and I yell my guts out when I'm there. But the outcome of the game doesn't affect my mood, my relationship with my wife and kids, my testimony of the gospel, my retirement savings, or anything else in my life.

This is kind of related to your original question and I hope it helps. I'm a much happier fan since I had that paradigm shift.