trying, practicing, succeeding in something new

I've tried many things and failed, and I've tried many things and hit a hard spot and then quit. I don't know if I've ever succeeded at much in my whole existence, or at least, not as much as I would like. I determined a while back that I would not quit the things I decide to start and pursue; The Lord has given me many undeveloped talents and I am determined to seek them, practice them and expand them. This is a short story of basketball and I. How I went out on a limb, tried something new, got discouraged many times but kept going. Keep reading if you'd like.

Growing up, we were not encouraged nor discouraged from playing sports like other kids. My brothers and sisters did a little bit of soccer when they were really young and I was either extremely young or in the womb. I do remember Stephen's soccer games, along with loads of pop-ice and Grandma. I, however, had very acute asthma as a child. There weren't very efficient, preventative medications. I got asthma at four years old and didn't get one of those fancy "rescue inhalers" till I was about eight years old. FOUR YEARS with nothing but grape-flavored cough syrup-type stuff that didn't work that well. I could play around but if I did any running for an extended period, I would start wheezing and have trouble.

But, I now have really good medicine thanks to science, pharmacists, doctors, and the Lord. My life has significantly improved because of it and I am able to do anything I want, uninhibited by my asthma. I am so blessed.

Which brings me to trying something new! This semester is the third semester that I have roomed with my basketball-loving roommate, Myra. The first two semesters together, I would faithfully attend as many of her basketball games as I could. Our school doesn't do legitimate college sports, but we can try out for one of several competitive teams of various sports and play against each other. Well, Myra also tried to spread the basketball love by saying that we should play basketball together sometime. So, her and our other roommate, Shea and I went to the courts to practice. I went several times with Myra by myself as well, and I noticed that my shooting was disgustingly awful. I more or less just flung the ball at the hoop and it rarely got near it, much less IN it. But, for some reason, practicing shooting was very interesting to me and I was determined to get better and do it right. Myra started to teach me how to do it correctly and I began practicing. I enjoyed it aLOT! We even played some with our "brothers" in our church, but I still was very intimidated by my lack of skill to really enjoy playing with others.

I went home for my five month fall break, and practiced once at my boss's house on her husband's court but not for very long. I then decided to switch my major to exercise physiology and discovered I had to take a sports class: I chose basketball. There were MANY times where I wanted to drop the class. We did dribbling drills and I could barely handle the ball running down the court. THEN, our teacher got up the nerve to tell us to "Dribble twice, pass under your leg and dribble twice the other way, do it again and come back." I stared at him, incredulous, "You want me to do WHAT?!?!?!?! Under my LEG?!?!?!" I tried it. Dribbled twice, stopped. Spread my legs FAR apart. Looked down in between my legs at the other side of the court, then threw the ball. DANG IT! I forgot to put my hand on the other side of my legs to catch the ball! Mostly, I cheated. Or I didn't cheat, I was mostly running into other people's dribbling lines chasing MY ball. We did other drills, of which I didn't understand, and couldn't even HEAR my teacher's booming voice that echoed about a million times off the walls of the court before it reached me. It was like telephone! Little bits and pieces getting chiseled off of his words until they reached ME and the only ones left are, "Okay, GO!" I always put myself at the back of lines so I could watch the drills intently, because, APPARENTLY I was the ONLY one in my class who wasn't a PRO at basketball. Everyone else knew what they were doing but I didn't. Got hit in the head TWICE in one scrimmage, but was NEVER actually PASSED the ball by anyone on my team. And then I got this strange urge to practice...

I was sick and tired of not being passed the ball and not being an asset to my team. A very nice guy in my class named Jason is whom I would call a Gentle Giant. He is really tall and broad and just has the kindest way about him. We started talking one day before class as everyone practiced shooting, and he told me he loves helping people. He started showing me a little more about shooting, had me practicing against a wall and then right below a hoop. It was super helpful! I felt someone actually liked me instead of hated me for being an awful basketball player and messing up their scrimmage games. And then, someone passed me the ball during a scrimmage! :D!!! And it happened again, and again, and again. I began to shoot a couple times a week on days other than class days, and then I made MY FIRST GOAL in one of our Four-on-Four games! Everyone was hollering at me to shoot, and, I was really doubtful so I hollered at them in my deepest southern drawl (because it really comes out when I holler) "Alright, but YALL ASKED FOR IT!" and I shot.....and it got in. The winning shot!

Everyone is so supportive of me when I do something good, because they know I'm not super talented at basketball (yet). Whenever I make a basket or a good pass, everyone starts hollering my name and cheering. It feels SO good! I practice quite a bit now and I LOVE IT! I even love playing with others! I feel like more of an asset now than just an obstacle that can't do anything. And it's because I pushed through! (And am still pushing) I tried something new and, instead of quitting, I kept at it and worked hard to get better.

I plan to take this one experience of success in my life and use it to turn myself around: I want to try lots of new things, and I don't want to give up. I want to make it through the tough spots and keep going. It will be rewarding in the end.

Improving My Existence

Howdy all! Yesterday I did something shameful. I skipped my Kinesiology class to attend my roommate's clogging class. After whining for half of a semester that I haven't been able to clog, I did something about it. Probably not the BEST choice, but who among us is perfect?

That brings me to Improving My Existence.

I am not perfect. WE are not perfect. I have a little extra adipose tissue. I don't exercise everyday. I have bouts of pessimism and depression. I eat when I'm stressed, hungry, not hungry, bored, and for entertainment. I'm not always diligent about talking to my Father in Heaven, and there are many days where I don't read His word in the holy scriptures. I don't always see my blessings and I don't always keep in contact with friends. Can't we all relate?

But I'm happy, really. On average, I am content with myself, my weight, my eating habits, my family, my social life, my interactions with other people, my life, my spirituality, and my relationship with God. But let's take a look: I can be a little better and I want to be a little better. I am existing and I love it, but I could definitely improve.

The Lord doesn't want us to settle. We shouldn't want to settle! Let's not settle for mediocre lives. We are capable of so much more! I am an Exercise Physiology major at my college and I have had the amazing opportunity to study our bodies - they're fascinating, amazing and perfectly designed. There is so much each and every one of us can do - whatever we want!

I am grateful for my life, my family, my body and my talents and abilities. My plan now is to use the resources and the physical body that I have been given to improve my existence.