Pink Think: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
photo by sitin duk
I play weekly basketball with some ladies from our church and it’s been a lot of fun, but very humbling.
Today we played two-on-two. My second pairing was with a recent high school graduate who played hs ball. She could take on an entire team if she had to, she’s that good. But today, she kept feeding me passes…and my shots just wouldn’t fall in.
I told her she should just make the shots next time, but she said, “I need to work on passing the ball.” I thought it was cool that someone as good as her still felt like she could improve.
Well, I went home and considered feeling sorry for myself. And then a memory from Monday afternoon came back to me.
***
We had gone as a family to the church to play basketball (our family plays a lot of basketball, in case you haven’t noticed). My son, who is 13 and is almost as tall as his dad and has the arm span of a bomber plane, tried open shots, but his shots weren’t falling. Later in the pick-up game, his shots did finally start falling. For all his later success, he was bummed about the missed shots.
My advice to him: “When the shots aren’t falling, focus on the good things that are going well. Feel good in the fact that you are trying and creating scoring opportunities. Sometimes you will have good days, and sometimes not-so-good. The important thing to do is to keep trying.”
***
You ever have one of those days when you think nothing is going your way…that the shots aren’t falling?
Here are a few things I have learned to tell myself:
1. Look ahead. Stop thinking of what you missed and instead find other opportunities. Maybe drives aren’t your forte, so focus on your strengths. And if you do want to be good at drives, learn from others and practice.
2. Have fun. Loosen up. Laugh at yourself and you will see that life isn’t really that bad.
3. Stop comparing yourself to others. Sometimes I’m tempted to just hide in a corner and never set foot on a basketball court. My girlfriends outplay me in all sorts of basketball maneuvers. But you know what? I couldn’t make free throw shots a year ago. Now I’m actually starting to make them. And guarding tougher. And not double-dribbling as much.
4. Never give up!
One of these days my shots will start falling…in basketball…in getting an agent…in getting published…in simply living this blessed God-given life to the fullest. I just know it. And when that happens, you’ll get an earful of whoopin’ from this gal.
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