I am working to become the M.G.D. not the M.V.P. of the Team; Most Grateful Dude
www.grateful4.org
Gratitude
Intention
First
Things
The G.I.F.T. Today
Grateful-for feeling my spiritual bones grow, and ache a bit here and there. All part of the process
Intention-when connected to breath there is nothing else to plan
First-calendar
Things-Colin
Morning Platitude from The GratiDude
I’ve been through big growth periods in my life, times when I really challenged myself and had to really accelerate my development or my learning or my growth through all the above in short order.
What’s cool and different about the growth period I am going through right now is that I can FEEL it! As I catch my thought awareness maturing and getting clearer I am recognizing latent thoughts that are not MINE, they are programmed thoughts to be released.
The fear programming runs deep here in our modern society, like other developed capitalist societies worldwide.
We need to be vigilant to keep growth on track.
I recall a difficult growth period when I had my first competitive tryout for a Sports team, the 7th/8th Grade “B” Basketball Team. The “A” Team was 9th Graders(and Mr. T and Gang as a TV Show).
The tryout went fine, until they posted the Team Members downstairs in the locker room at Slauson.
I wasn’t on the list.
I got cut.
I almost started balling in front of the Dudes.
I had to vacate….quickly.
I vowed that that shit would never happen again. Regardless of whether the coach was an idiot and didn’t pick the right players that he could’ve picked(c’mon, Scotty Dolan over me? Was it the curls? ), the fact of the matter is that I got cut.
I thought about the fact that if I had been more aggressive offensively and worked harder on defense and just made sure that I was impossible to not see through being a force of nature or a frenzy of activity, I wouldn’t be in this situation.
I realized I was going to play much harder going forward.
I was going to be fearless.
When you have no fear, you will fire it up from any part of the court and who gives a shit about stats or how many you miss because the next one’s going in.
I remember going to my mom and telling her that I wanted to start going with her in the evenings to one of the university recreation centers that she had access to as a former professor at the University of Michigan. At that time, I recall she would go to the north campus facility because it was newer and she had better luck finding an open lane to do her swimming laps that she enjoyed so much.
For me, it was an opportunity to play with Dudes bigger and stronger than me and to work on my game so that next year in eighth grade there would be no fucking way I wasn’t going to make that team. Not just make the team but start and be a Baller.
Yes, absolute growth is possible from failures, as they can provide valuable lessons, build resilience, and offer opportunities to refine strategies and improve in the future.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Failure as a Learning Opportunity:
Every failure, when viewed as a chance to learn and grow, can illuminate what went wrong and provide insights into how to improve.
Building Resilience:
Experiencing failures and bouncing back from setbacks fosters resilience and mental toughness.
Refining Strategies:
Failures can highlight areas where strategies need to be adjusted or new approaches implemented.
A Catalyst for Growth:
Failure can be a catalyst for personal and professional development, as it encourages reflection and the pursuit of improvement.
Embracing a Growth Mindset:
People who embrace a growth mindset view failure as an opportunity for learning and development rather than a reflection of their abilities.
Examples of Growth from Failure:
Many notable success stories begin with failure, including the stories of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and J.K. Rowling.
There was a lot of work to be done to get better at Hoops, to get more confident, and it all started by calling “next “.
Just like Life, you have to show up and participate.
“Next” means that you have the next game possible and you’re going to assemble a team and challenge whichever team won to be able to hold the court and keep playing.
Games were to 15 by one and you could win by 1(not 2 as was common as well).
You must remember how young I was at the time, I was 12. The other players were anywhere from 18 to 35 usually with the average age early 20s.
I had to be very firm and confident about having “Next” because sometimes older people/students whatever would be Assholes and try to intimidate me and tell me I couldn’t call next and I would tell them to fuck off and then I just as much right as they did and that I did have next, and they would have to whoop my ass to take it away from me.
Of course they could’ve easily whooped my ass, but they didn’t want to get kicked out of the gym and not be able to play basketball so that was the end of that and I got next.
My job on the team was just going to be to run play defense and rebound and I would get very few shot attempts and if I got a shot attempt, it would be on a fast break because I was hustling ahead of everyone else. It was a great metaphor and learning lesson for how life is when you’re young and you’re starting out and you must pay your dues, you find a spot and plug in and contribute in any way possible and keep your mouth shut.
What was more important for me was to review the talent of the losing teams and watch the losing teams closely and assemble a powerhouse team based upon the limited scouting opportunity I had of available players.
I needed some big strong older people and I needed some scorers.
It was great experience for me, and when I came back and played with the kids, my own age in about six months I had improved dramatically, and my confidence was through the roof. I was stronger and I had grown some and your damn right I started on the eighth-grade team.
I am a walking W built from my L’s.
Do you understand?
All my failures and traumas I am now harvesting and making sure I ring dry for all their wisdom, teachings, and lessons so I can maximize my learning experience during my short life.
I take all these lemons of life, and I stomp on them in my little bare feet, and I add the sugar of gratitude and love, and I serve this cool refreshing drink up to anyone who has enough self-love to take a big swig.
That that’s my attitude of gratitude.
EVERY DAY:
Love
and
Gratitude
https://www.instagram.com/GratiDude_abides
[email protected]/941.894.8030
Thank you sincerely.
IN LIFE AND GOLF, GET BETTER…..NOW!
HERE: https://grateful4.org/the-abcs-of-wellness-and-growth/#register
Every day, every way, grateful.
KC
I am here to help, add somebody that needs a “check up from the neck up”
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