THE BEAR AWAKENS
Cicero Returns From Hibernation, Groggy but Enlightened
A New Season of Bears Football, Higher Expectations, and the Ancient Art of Not Losing Your Mind
There are moments in a bear's life when the forest calls. The Des Plaines River whispers. The leaves fall. The temperature drops. And eventually, Cicero enters his lair, curls into a magnificent ball of fur, and hibernates. Usually, this lasts several months. This year, however, there was a problem.
I overslept.
Frankly, I was exhausted. The 2025 Chicago Bears season was the greatest football season I had experienced in memory, and apparently my nervous system decided it needed an extended recovery period. I woke up recently, blinked at the sunlight, looked around the lair and asked:
"Did we finally address our defensive end pass rush and interior run defense?"
Nobody answered. I went back to sleep.
THE DREAMS
During hibernation, I dreamed. Not normal dreams. Bears dreams. I saw Caleb Williams making throws that made my claws curl with joy. I saw Ben Johnson stalking the sideline. I saw Soldier Field shaking.
I saw the Packers. Then I saw the Bears beat the Packers. Again. And again. And again (THANK YOU DJ MOORE for your time in Chicago). At some point I realized I was watching the same highlights on an infinite loop. This was apparently my subconscious achieving enlightenment.
I also dreamed of the Giants game. The Eagles game. The comeback victories. The fourth-quarter chaos. The Bears kept finding ways to win. And every time I woke up, I smiled, rolled over and went back to sleep. This was the most peaceful hibernation of my life.
ONE YEAR AGO, WE HAD QUESTIONS
Think back to where we were one year ago. The Bears were full of unknowns. Could Caleb Williams take the next step, was he coachable, can he read a defense? Could Ben Johnson transform the offense given its roster and turnstile offensive line? Could this team actually compete? Could the Bears stop giving their fans cardiovascular emergencies? Could Chicago finally become watchable on Sundays?
Then the season answered. Resoundingly.
The Bears became NFC North champions. They became a legitimate playoff team. Ben Johnson went shirtless. Free hotdogs got involved. They became one of the most entertaining teams in football. The energy in the city became electric.
They became the kind of team that could fall behind late and somehow make you think: "Relax. They've got this." Of course Cole Kmet is catching that touchdown against the Rams.
Those last two sentences alone represent approximately 40 years of Bears spiritual evolution.
THE PROBLEM WITH SUCCESS
Now comes the difficult part. Expectations.
Last year, Bears fans could embrace uncertainty. Nobody knew exactly what this team would become. That was liberating. Now we know. We know what Caleb can do. We know what Ben Johnson can build. We know this organization is capable of winning meaningful football games.
And suddenly, "being competitive" isn't enough. A 9-win season would feel disappointing. A playoff miss would feel catastrophic. A loss to Green Bay could cause temporary shortages of Old Style throughout Cook County. A team arguably more talented than last year may not replicate the same win-loss record. This is the strange psychological burden of success.
When expectations rise, enjoyment can become conditional. And Cicero has returned from the forest to offer a little wisdom.
THE CICERO METHOD FOR HEALTHY BEARS FANDOM
1. Appreciate Before You Evaluate
Before complaining about what the Bears haven't accomplished, remember what they accomplished. The 2025 season changed the emotional landscape of this franchise (setting aside Kevin Warren and the stadium fiasco). Take a moment to appreciate that.
Gratitude doesn't mean lowering expectations. It means recognizing progress before demanding more.
2. Control What You Can Control
This is where mindfulness gets extremely practical. You cannot control Caleb's completion percentage. You cannot control Ben Johnson's play calls. You cannot control whether a defensive back blows a coverage. Also this bear has held certain standing poses in front of the tv out of superstition. And you absolutely cannot control the referees, despite your increasingly detailed theories.
You can control how much time you spend screaming at the television. You can control whether you spend Sunday afternoon doom-scrolling. You can control whether you let one bad quarter ruin your entire weekend.
The Bears play football. You live your life. Keep those things separate. (Note: much easier said than done)
3. Practice the "Next Play" Mindset
Athletes use this concept constantly. Bad play? Next play. Bad quarter? Next quarter. Bad game? Next game. Bears fans should adopt it.
Interception? Breathe. Missed field goal? Breathe. Three-and-out? Breathe. Packers touchdown? Perhaps breathe a little more aggressively. The goal isn't to suppress emotion. It's to experience the emotion without allowing it to hijack the entire nervous system.
4. Use the Science of WOOP
Cicero has been reading. This is dangerous.
Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen and colleagues have studied a technique called mental contrasting with implementation intentions, often abbreviated MCII or WOOP: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. Research suggests this approach can help people translate goals into action. A meta-analysis of 21 studies involving more than 15,000 participants found a small-to-moderate positive effect on goal attainment. (PubMed)
So let's apply it to Bears fandom.
Wish: The Bears win the Super Bowl.
Outcome: Chicago becomes completely unbearable for several months.
Obstacle: The defense gives up 400 yards and Bears Twitter declares the franchise doomed.
Plan: If the Bears struggle, then I will wait 30 minutes before posting anything on social media.
This is scientifically adjacent to emotional survival.
5. BREATHE BEFORE YOU POST
This one is important. Before posting:
"BEN JOHNSON HAS LOST HIS MIND!!! WHY DID HE NOT TAKE THE FG THERE!!!" (see: RAMS playoff loss)
Take five breaths. Then ask: Would I still post this after halftime? If the answer is no, put the phone down.
Mindfulness research is not just New Age incense and people sitting cross-legged on mountains. Reviews of randomized trials have found evidence that mindfulness interventions can reduce perceived stress, although effects vary and the evidence is not uniformly perfect. (PubMed)
Cicero therefore recommends: Inhale. Exhale. Do not fire the defensive line coach.
6. LET YOURSELF ENJOY IT
This may be the most important lesson. Bears fans spent years waiting for this. Do not allow heightened expectations to rob you of the experience.
If the Bears win? Celebrate. If they lose? Be disappointed. If they have a bad season? It will hurt. That's what fandom is. Mindfulness does not mean becoming emotionally detached from the Bears. Cicero is living proof. I teach meditation. I also once screamed at a television for seven consecutive minutes because of a defensive holding penalty.
Both can coexist.
A NEW SEASON REQUIRES A NEW KIND OF BEARS FAN
Last year we were believers. This year we are stewards. We have to carry the optimism without turning it into entitlement. We have to demand excellence without treating every mistake as evidence of organizational collapse. We have to enjoy the journey while still believing the destination can be glorious.
The science tells us that mindfulness can help with stress regulation. Goal-setting techniques can help translate aspirations into action. And mental contrasting can help us prepare for obstacles instead of merely fantasizing about perfect outcomes. (PubMed)
Cicero tells us something simpler: Don't let football consume the bear. Let football enrich the bear.
THE BEAR IS AWAKE
The Des Plaines River is flowing. The forest is waking. The Gene & Jude's supply has been replenished. The Old Style is cold. The keyboard has been dusted off. And somewhere deep inside the Cook County Forest Preserve, a very large grizzly bear has emerged from a very long nap.
I am groggy. I am hungry. I have absolutely no idea what day it is. But I know one thing.
The Chicago Bears are back.
The expectations are higher. The stakes are higher. The pressure is higher. So our mindfulness must be higher too.
Breathe deeply. Stay grounded. Enjoy the ride.
And when the Bears inevitably do something that causes you to question every life decision that brought you to this moment... Remember the Cicero mantra:
This is supposed to be fun. Pause. Breathe. Then yell:
