Battle Tested
Today is Mother's Day.
My wife Joy and my son Koji went to hear mass at a Catholic Church.
What I noticed was that one of the church helpers, was wearing a Nike. But there was something protruding from the side.
I can’t help but notice that the black thing protruding from the side of his high cut Nike was an ankle monitor.
I can’t help but notice it and run in my mind that this guy is trying to correct himself.
I told my son Koji later when we were eating lunch to celebrate Mother’s day, and he said, “He is wearing an ankle monitor because he is a menace to the society”.
True.
But I have to explain to him that he is trying to correct his mistake.
And that for me is more than enough.
We will mess up…
When Koji played for his high school freshman year, he was picked to be the team’s point guard.
But as the season started, he lost his starting job. He was missing shots and was not bringing the ball well.
He was so frustrated that our drive home from games is more of him crying. He worked hard the summer before that, even hiring a coach to get better.
The problem was he was losing confidence when he was playing, and the fundamentals were lost.
In the very end, he twisted his ankle and did not play for the last month of his freshman season.
Today though, he’s bouncing back. I told him to practice and plays with a travel team. I saw some of his mistakes during his freshman season but getting better every time.
Here’s the thing, he could have given up basketball altogether, but he didn’t. What I admire about this kid is that he still works even with all the disappointments (I want to cry while writing this...)
That’s How You Grow…
I was listening to a priest’s sermon several years ago. His message was that growing hurts. I mean you are molded to be a better person by the obstacles and the disappointments we encounter.
His example was that plants are trimmed to look better, and some are cut to grow better.
That’s how you grow, you are hurt by the trimmings but in the end, that’s how you grow.
