For many kids today, becoming a professional athlete and enjoying the many perks of such a career – including celebrity-status, being on television, having their own sports card, or even being featured on a video game – is the dream of a lifetime! My dream was to play in the NBA.
Growing up in the 70′s in Los Angeles, basketball was my first love. I became a big Laker fan, attending many games at the Fabulous Forum. My favorite player was Jerry West.
In 1977, I was fortunate enough to attend a Jerry West basketball camp. What an amazing opportunity to meet my idol ,Mr. Clutch himself, and learn from the master. That year I was motivated to join a youth basketball team at Robertson Park. Having my family watch me play was exciting. Although, I did not contribute many points toward the victories (8 points in 8 games) I still felt extreme joy being a part of the team and becoming champions of the league that year. And to finally receive something I’ve been especially waiting for, my first basketball trophy. To me, this trophy represents a special time in my youth when I played the game that I loved so much.
So, today I am grateful that I still have my one and only basketball trophy, although it is slowly falling apart. As Dave, The Gratitude Guy, I now realize that I didn’t have a “whatever it takes” attitude to make my dream of playing in the NBA more of a reality. The problem I had is that I started to believe what others were saying to me, ”You can’t do that, you’re not good enough, it’s impossible!”. I want to say to anyone who has ever had a dream, like I did, that in order to succeed, you have to believe in yourself first. And then no matter what anybody tells you, hey this is your life, and you have the power to decide what you want to do with it.
Thank you for all your comments. I truly do appreciate them very much. It propels me to continue writing this blog, fueling my creative juices along the way.