During the summer after my senior year of High School, I found myself in a particular place… a position I had never been in before. For the first time in years, my mind was not aligned with my dreams. In my heart, I knew what I wanted, but my mind managed to talk me out of the impossible. It was as if my mindset had been downgraded from extraordinary to ordinary. For years, it didn’t Matter to me that I wasn’t the tallest, the fastest, or the quickest. All that mattered was that I knew where I wanted to go and with enough consistency, discipline, and a good pinch of crazy faith… The sky was the limit. However, it all changed when I graduated. During the last weeks of my school year, I went up to try out for a college team located in Brenham, Texas. (About 2 hours from where I currently live). My dream had always been to play basketball for a college team in the States, so when the opportunity arose, I was excited. The try-out went well, I got the coaches to recognize my name, and they congratulated me after we finished. They said that they would be in touch and that if they were interested in me coming to the school they would reach out. It didn’t take long to get the call, I remember we were driving home when a number from Benham, Texas called me. “This is Coach Shields… May I speak with Juan” -Yes sir, this is him (I replied). “Ok Juan, let me be very brief with you. We like the way you played at the try-out, and we would love to add you to our roster. However, I think you still have some development to do, so I would like to red-shirt you for a year. This won’t affect your eligibility to play the 4 years you are allowed to play. Because you would be a red-shirt, we can’t offer you any scholarships. If you have any questions, please give me a call… this is my number. You have a good day Juan.” -You too coach (I said). Immediately I called Coach P (my high school coach) and told him that I had gotten the call. He was probably as excited as I was and asked me to not worry about the money. He said that if I wanted to attend, then we would figure out a way to make it happen.
Days passed and strangely the excitement of getting that call slowly faded away. Why am I even thinking of going to school to play basketball if I can start working, save some money, and take advantage of the “American Dream”? Why would I want to move 2 hours away if I don’t even have a car? How am I going to come and visit the girl I like? (I was very attracted to a girl during those days). Wouldn’t it be better to just do what everyone else does? Get a job and send some money back home. All these thoughts cluttered my mind, and even though my heart was set on playing basketball, my mind was set on doing and listening to what everyone else thought was right for me. I ended up convincing myself that basketball was not the path anymore, that people grow, and with the process of growing our priorities change. I couldn’t think like the same kid I was years before. Now it was my future we were talking about, and basketball was not going to provide for me nor give me a good start in life. Weeks later, I called Coach Shields and told him that I wasn’t coming to their school. That same day, I informed Coach P that I greatly appreciated the effort he was putting into raising the money, but I felt like it was time for me to take on a new path. Now, don’t get me wrong! It did feel like I was making the right decision. I had started to work construction with this girl’s stepdad and got myself enrolled in an online course on how to invest in the stock market. However, when my heart finally glued back its pieces and gained the courage to speak up… Oh boy! He made sure I heard him loud and clear. Listening to our heart is listening to God’s heart… he has placed dreams and visions in us that are meant to be accomplished. Nonetheless, when we fail to follow where the needle is pointing us. We shut the door to the opportunity to know who we can be and open the door to who the world wants us to be.
Passing up on the opportunity to play basketball for that school, is probably one of the biggest lessons I will always carry with me. I have never been more unhappy than I was during that time. Life felt meaningless… I was living on autopilot y’all. My days didn’t have any excitement, I hated working the long construction shifts, and I didn’t feel passionate about the stock market… I just wanted to make money (and when you do something for money, very quickly you realize that the worst motivation you can have to do something… IS MONEY). The path I chose looked right in everyone else’s eyes, and instead of standing strong for what I believed, I allowed my relatives and social media to dictate what I was supposed to do. So much so that even I ended up believing that lie was the truth. Proverbs 14:12 says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” And I wonder if maybe this verse is the answer to why there are so many unhappy adults out there. Just maybe these adults used to be young like you and I, they had passions and dreams. But somewhere down the road, they heard that they needed to worry about getting a stable job, that starting at 20 an hour is way better than trying to make a business out of that idea they had in mind. Maybe the author doesn’t mean physical death but spiritual death, and that kind of death is even worse! There is a path that seems right to everyone, but is it the right path for you?
What are you dreaming about? What moves your heart? What doesn’t let you sleep at night? That is your compass pointing you to where you are supposed to arrive. Maybe in the past, you made the wrong decision, maybe you didn’t listen to your heart back then, but you are here today! And you can turn over the course of your life if you want to. We are not here to play it safe my friend, we are here to risk it all, to leave it all in the field, to take a chance on who God created us to be… because then, and only then we will have a chance of living a meaningful life.
I don’t play basketball now, but I have discovered a new passion and that is to inspire my generation to live a meaningful life. Some people say I am wasting my time, and social media tells me I should be creating a drop shipping account where I can make thousands of dollars… but you know what my heart says? He says, This is where we belong Juan, this is where I feel fulfilled. Every day he reminds me of how unhappy we were when the voice of the world got louder than my own. And I use this as a motivation to believe in my dreams, my passions, and to not settle for less than who I truly want to be.
My friend! you are setting the foundation of your life, and I want to encourage you to listen to your heart! Listen to what God has placed in it. That’s who you are supposed to be! I promise you those dreams are possible… just do what you can, with what you have, where you are, and God will take care of the rest. Don’t let other people tell you who you are supposed to be. God already knows where you are supposed to arrive, so let him speak to your heart and listen to what he places in it.
As always, I am thrilled to be growing with every person who gets to read my blog posts. I always end by inviting everybody to get to know the only one who has taken me from a place of darkness to light. His name is Jesus, and you need this man in your life!!! He will turn your life in a way you never imagined. I dare you to get to know him! Your life will never be the same.