Thought for the Day 5/24/2024

 Friday Tale - Resilience 

Six games. 289 missed shots. 73 turnovers. 106 personal fouls. 22 missed free throws. And they went undefeated. 6-0.

      Those are the tournament stats for last year’s men’s college basketball champions (Villanova University).

      So many mistakes but still winners. I love that!

      What inspires me most is the players’ focus.

      With thousands of people watching them ... talking, yelling, waving things in the air ... pep bands playing and cheerleaders cheering (for and against them) ... knowing their work is being watched, recorded, and judged at all moments by fans, scouts, reporters, and coaches ... with all of it ... they’re able to do their work.

      I want that focus every day. (Don’t you?)

      The players’ resilience.

      There aren’t two minutes that go by without at least one mistake by someone. And everyone sees it ... a missed shot, a foul, a turnover.

     But there's no time for excuses, drama, or complaints because the game goes on ... many times instantly.

      And the person who makes the mistake knows that if he hesitates to get back in the game for even a split second, it’ll cost everyone. So he gets back to work ... immediately.

      I want that resilience every day. (Don’t you?)

      The players’ care for each other.

      I love when the players huddle up on the court at key moments.

      I especially like when they do it after a missed free throw before a second attempt.

      I assume they say encouraging things to the shooter rather than telling him he’d better get it right this time.

      I’m also inspired by those enthusiastic players who encourage their teammates from the sideline (sometimes for all 4 or 5 of their college years) ... and those caring coaches you see and read about.

      I want to be a part of that care every day. (Don’t you?)

      And one more inspiring thing...

      All of this is from people who’ve been alive less than 25 years. Pretty impressive.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if more of us more consistently did the same in our daily life?

          The beautiful thing is we can always make that choice to do it ourselves regardless of what others do. And when we do that, we encourage others to join in.

~ from Jim Gentile's Positive E-newsletter

 

Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

~ Ephesians 6:10