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“Leave Your Ego at the Door” Eliminating Emotional Egotism Weight: 175. Two months have transpired since my last entry. Life has taken a number of turns since then. I am no longer in a committed relationship, and the loss of that status and the person involved represents a serious challenge to my emotional well-being. Immediately afterwards, I could feel a wave of situational depression cascade over me, so I needed to take steps to deal effectively with my feelings. I came to the conclusion that we learn the greatest about ourselves through our interpersonal relationships. Naturally, I have learned about my strengths and weaknesses through my interactions with all of my significant others, past and present. The challenge now is to change those aspects of myself that interfered with my relationship while and celebrating the positive aspects of our experiences. As I emerge from these changes, I have a renewed willingness to be an authentic and loving partner for someone in the future, but I also wish only the best for the person with whom I move from intimacy to friendship.
I still make mistakes: getting used as “pick” on defense, throwing the ball away on offense, and shooting from the field when I had an open lane to drive to the basket. If I can’t contribute on offense because my defender is guarding me closely, I try On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the games are less competitive, so my defenders give me a little more room to score.
I know that the primary purpose of my morning games is to get exercise, not to feed my ego by scoring. But I have found that one area at which I can excel is the fast break. As soon as I see that my team has gain possession of the ball on a rebound or other defensive success, I take off down the court. If I can outrun my defender, I am looking for a pass from a player behind me. Or I act as a “trailer” for the lead player with the ball to provide support if he is being guarded closely. Also, if my co-player misses his shot, I can be in a good position to get the offensive rebound. So while scoring acts as the prize on any given play, as a member of the team, I need to “see the whole court” to be aware of the position of my fellow team members, pass the ball if I can’t make the shot, or look for the open shot if it becomes available. The fast break gives me the chance to accomplish the lay-up, which if correctly executed, is a high percentage shot. I am always trying to remember to use the backboard to place the ball in the hoop. All too often, trying to drop the ball in the basket without the backboard allows the ball to bounce off the rim without ever going in. In that event, the shooter needs to be ready to follow the shot. If the defender has the height advantage, the scoring opportunity is all but lost.
By the way, I just wanted to thank my weekday basketball co-players for putting up with me, and also for encouraging me to do better on the court. I also received positive feedback from one player where he encouraged me to post some fresh thoughts on the fitness journal. As time goes by, we’ve welcomed some new players, and I see how far I have come. It’s important that I check my ego at the door because I can easily remember those first few halting steps on the court for me. It took a while to become confident enough to do what my experienced co-players were doing. I feel as though I am one of them now, and I can provide a supportive word to those new to the court. So let’s run! George Until next time, George |
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