The other day someone came up to me and said, you have to chill back a little bit… you are missing out on life.
Of course this is not the first time someone has told me that. Growing up I heard it from my friends and family all the time. I remember this one time when one of my relatives invited me to spend Christmas in the States with everything covered. At the time it sounded like the greatest deal I had ever been proposed. However, one thing stopped me from going; we were training for a very important tournament. With the wisdom of a 13-year-old I figured it would be foolish of me to choose the trip of my dreams over my dream of playing basketball. Everyone got mad because I declined the offer, and the word was that I needed to chill back on this basketball thing because my obsession was making me miss out on life. They just couldn’t wrap their minds around the fact that a 13 year old chose booth camp over “fun”.
I wish my mentality had stayed like that as the years passed for God only knows where I’d be today… I imagine it’d be at a D-1 school leading the team to the championship tournament. But the truth is, as the years passed, I allowed these voices to get into my mind and permitted them to make me doubt the path I was supposed to follow. What if they are right? What if I’m actually missing out on life -I would ask. When I looked around the standard guy my age had a girlfriend, hung out with friends multiple times a week, and was “living life at its fullest.” on the other hand, when I looked at my life all I had was basketball and a coach who offered me a position on his team with the condition to be redshirted for a year. After putting some thought into it I concluded that my pursuits were meaningless, -In the end, if death were to visit me tomorrow I wouldn’t want to say that all I did during my stay on earth was to play basketball. The story of how this decision turned out for me could probably fill the pages of a book, but for the purpose of this writing, I’m just going to say the following… I was never missing out on anything.
It has taken me three years and some change to realize that the whole “chill back”, “you are too obsessed”, and “you are missing out on life.” are the greatest lies I’ve ever been told, and to come to this conclusion I had to sit and have a conversation with the younger version of myself… yep, that 13-year-old who chose booth camp over fun. Once I was able to get out of the rock bottom I touched after declining the offer to play for that coach, I set my mind on one thing “Helping the younger generations live the life God meant for us.” I believe our life is not a coincidence, I believe God put us here for a reason, I believe the world can be a better place if we choose to make it so, I believe hunger can be cured, I believe we can experience heaven on earth, I believe in people who will stand for values and not feelings, I believe that the younger generations have the responsibility to allow God govern this world and not our desires. These words sound lovely, but the truth is that if I do nothing about this thing that sets my heart on fire, everything is going to stay in just that… lovely words. So, as I’ve embarked on my journey to pursue the new dream God has placed in my heart, people have started to suggest that I might be a little too obsessed with this idea and instead, I should be living life like a normal young adult. I wish we had the power to go through life with our ears closed, that way we wouldn’t carry the weight of other people’s words. But as good as this sounds it is far from reality, and the truth is every day we have a decision to make, whether we will listen to them or not. Last week I found myself asking the same question I had asked years ago, – what if they are right? What if I am missing out on life? but this time something was different. Almost as if I was part of a sci-fi movie, my mind transported me back to when I was that little kid pursuing his dream of playing basketball in the States. There I was! In that old concrete basketball court. My face looked radiant, I grabbed that rebound with elegance, crossed over one defender, crossed over the second one, and boom! Out of nowhere pulled out a no-look pass that ended on a bucket. He is having fun I thought, but the best was yet to come. After the game ended this kid to whom “impossible” was a suggestion, came up to me to talk. He couldn’t help but ask about the future, – Do we ever win the national tournament? Are we still playing basketball? Do we ever make it to the States? Come on Juan tell me! Did we tell her how much we liked her? My heart was emotional, for I didn’t know how to tell this kid that although we made it to the States, we stopped playing basketball. Somehow, I mustered up the courage, and with my voice trembling I let the truth come out. -We made it to the States Juan, but we stopped playing basketball. A long silence took place, and a couple tears came out of his eyes. What happened he asked? We didn’t get an offer? -we did I said, but honestly, I thought we had given so much of our lives to basketball that we were missing out. -Missing out on what he asked. -Life, I replied. Oh I see… they finally got to us huh? All those comments about us being too obsessed and wasting our years on a dream that would never come true. -What are we doing now, he asked. Well, we are trying to lead our generation to live the life God meant for us… I know it’s kind of crazy, I muttered. Why is it crazy? I love the idea! We could help millions of people with this, he expressed with excitement. It’s a little harder than it sounds, every time I just feel out of place and tend to think that maybe they are right, maybe I’m supposed to be like a normal twenty-year-old…
Juan, let me remind you of something you already know but seems like you’ve forgotten. Do you remember those times when we went to practice instead of going out with our friends? Did it ever feel like you were missing out on life? or what about the times we chose to go practice earlier instead of watching the TV show? Was it a burden for you? -No, I said. Exactly! we weren’t missing out on life because every day we were in pursuit of what moved our hearts and that was basketball. It seemed crazy to others, but we enjoyed it and that’s what matters. Listen, you are telling me that our dreams changed, I don’t have a problem with that… everyone changes! What I have a problem with is the fact that you are letting external voices dictate what you want and don’t want for our life… that bothers me. Do you want to lead a generation to live the lives God meant for them? Then do it! Take the necessary steps to move towards that purpose… Even when it seems crazy to others! For it is not their dream but yours. They don’t have to understand… if God and you know why you are doing what you do the rest doesn’t matter. Follow your dream! Living a life led by purpose is better than living a life led by emotions. -would this be the only time we get to talk? I asked. With a smile on his face, he replied, it’ll be if you choose it that way… you can always call me Juan! I live inside you. We all have a little kid living inside us! A kid who believes in you, a kid who knows that nothing is impossible if God is with us, a kid who yells waste it all… for the dream God put in your heart is worth it! We live in a culture that reproaches when they see someone who is committed to a goal, someone who doesn’t conform. Here is my invitation friend, I believe that with the dreams God has placed in your heart, you could help this world be a better place. But it’s going to take some commitment on your part, some willingness to be left out, and embracing that you will be called weird for following purpose instead of feelings. God believes in you, I believe in you… do you believe in yourself?