How to Slam-Dunk Life.

(To be clear; if we're talking about watching, playing or listening to basketball I'll be exiting the premises directly. There is only room in my heart for football, basketball you are out in the cold.) 

Picture me this.........you're sitting in the middle of a 3 day medical training, listening attentively to your instructor. The instructor poses the rhetorical question; "have you ever heard of basketball?" to which you mutter "unfortunately" in an almost inaudible tone, but your classmate hears and finds it humorous. Said classmate begins to laugh, chokes on his pizza and we're suddenly enacting our newly acquired medical training right there in the room. The very happy ending to this scenario includes my classmate being absolutely 100% a-okay post-choking episode and the instructor forgetting where ever he was headed with the basketball comment. 

The training concluded and as Roger bid me farewell he left me with this; "You get an A+ for humor, but don't forget that basketball can teach you some pretty cool life lessons." 

Two hour drive home = plenty of time to reflect- can I get a life lesson from basketball? 

Well, ahem. Isn't that profound. Yours truly has been doing a lot of learning lately. 

Sometimes I look in the mirror and think to myself "how did I get this grown up and still struggle with (insert emotional, financial or spiritual equivalent of) tying my shoes?" Maybe I wore crocs until I was 18, or maybe I was raised in the jungle with no shoes, or maybe I'm learning to lose. 

Wait, wait, wait-- I call a personal foul. You can't touch the other players, and I feel like life is manhandling me. Get tough, sweetheart, because sometime the refs don't see it like you feel it. 

So you're telling me that there are boundaries in this game?? I can't shoot from outside the court? Life is the same way- if you're outside your boundaries, it doesn't matter if you get it in the basket. It only counts if you shoot from within your boundaries.

You're telling me that traveling isn't cool- I have to dribble? That's right. There are no shortcuts in life- all good things take time.

It's called a rebound because when your shot goes to oopsie-town, it still has the potential to be turned into a score. Your missed shots are not the end of the world they can set someone else up for a score. Don't hide your faults, share your mistakes because others can and will benefit. 

What about this charging thing? I thought charging was a credit card term?? IN basketball terms, 'charging' is when you run over another player in attempt to get to the basket. When you're more worried about getting where you're going then you are about loving, caring and relating to people- you're charging through life. Not okay. 

The shot-clock matters. You've got to shoot. Don't waste your life clutching that ball- shoot before you miss your chance.

Roger was right. There are some pretty cool lessons in life derived from basketball. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it can't teach you something. 

I'm learning to loose so I can win.