Living Life Fully’s Daily Pick-Me-Up

I talked to a high school basketball player today; her team lost their final game last week, and she feels responsible for the loss because she fouled out late in the game.  She’s taken the entire burden on herself, even though her team lost by just two points in a very close game.  As I listened to her talk, I couldn’t help but feel dismay that she’s taken so much on herself, that she blames herself for something that simply has to be considered as a team loss.  When basketball teams are on the court, they’re just that–teams.  While some inidividuals excel, and some even carry their teams to a large extent, any result of any game has to be considered a team effort.

Why is it that in our culture we’re so used to taking the blame for so many things?  Why and how can we be so hard on ourselves when we feel we’ve let other people down, even when those other people often are partly responsible for the way things have turned out?  And saying that they’re “responsible” isn’t placing blame at all–it’s simply stating a fact.  When a team is out on the court, any outcome is the result of a team effort.  And while one person may blow a coverage and allow a last-second three-point shot to make the team lose 83-82, it’s important to keep in mind that the whole team let the other team score the other 80 points–it isn’t a question of just who gave up the last shot.

So are you being hard on yourself?  Are you taking the weight of the world on your shoulders?  Well, please remember that you don’t deserve that burden.  Perhaps you’ve made a mistake or three–welcome to the human race!  Give yourself a break today, and please keep in mind that no matter what mistakes you might have made, you’re still a marvelous creation of a marvelous creator, and you weren’t made to be brought down by yourself, or by anyone else.  Stand tall, smile, and move forward.  Your one mistake might have allowed the other team to score three points, but not the whole 83!  And life goes on. . . .