Lessons from the court

I never thought that injuries would be life-changing for me. Never has it crossed my mind that my situation would impact the choices I have to make in life. Several people I know who are involved in sports and got injured a couple of times continue to do what they love, even becoming better and stronger as time passes.

This means that injuries are like life lessons. When we take them negatively, we feel discouraged to go back to court to play. Yet, on the positive side, we learn from the injury which helps boost our confidence to get stronger, wiser, and better.

I wonder, how long can we endure such injuries?

I have been playing different sports but found basketball more fun and interesting ever since I tried it, even imagining myself with the same skills as some basketball legends. But I never dreamed of becoming a professional. As long as I knew how to handle the ball and shoot it into the ring, that was enough for me.

During our recreational activities or whenever we had free time, I would always choose to participate in this game because of its all-out nature; I can run and stretch my arms which exercises my whole body. So satisfying!

The problem with basketball though is that it was not made for the weak. One has to be sturdy for unexpected body contacts, especially during defenses and rebounds, while maintaining mental sharpness. Stretching must also be done beforehand to lessen the pain after playing. While in the game, you should possess focus and readiness in receiving the ball, because sometimes, a miscalculated force by a teammate can make the object difficult to catch, or worse, feel the force of its impact. The ball should be protected so the other team cannot steal it. To avoid a turnover, you must shoot the ball or pass it to a teammate.

However, playing basketball has resulted in me getting injured countless times already. My playmates would say, “Don’t worry if you get injured; you will become stronger and better at playing basketball.” These words encouraged me to continue, to be optimistic, because I believed them for so many reasons no matter how my mother tried to dissuade me. But as the injuries kept happening, I got worse and became weak. That was when I realized that this positive mentality could not be applied to everyone.

I have done everything to recover and improve myself because I have dedicated almost an entire life to this sport. In fact, days ago, I planned to shift focus to other strategies like improving my shooting form and skills. If I cannot dribble, then I will practice more on my shots. This way, I can be more helpful to my team as some of them can dribble well. But for an unexplainable misfortune, I got injured again.

So I asked myself, “Should I pursue or pursue getting hurt?” It makes me think that although sometimes we do our best, even when we try to develop ourselves or even use different strategies, there are things that won’t work out for us and this is a truth we tend to deny or ignore.

Finally, I have reached the point that basketball is not meant for me, and I must accept this reality. To put an extra effort into it would either make me or harm me, yet, these injuries that I have to endure will most likely put me at risk. However, it does not mean that I disregard the importance of hard work.

But sometimes in life, we must also learn to stop when the signs keep telling us not to press forward. I have been injured several times which has inspired me to become more courageous, but these mishaps have also gradually put my life at risk. There are things that we tend to push ourselves into, even when we know it is not for our benefit.

Though it is never a waste of time to try, it will soon be when we lose ourselves trying. Why not learn something that I can do rather than force myself to do what I cannot do and am not supposed to be doing? There are various opportunities that I can attempt to achieve as well as other talents, skills, or gifts that I only have to acknowledge. So, why not build on my capabilities and create a masterpiece? Sometimes, we turn away from the gifts presented before us and ask for those not intended for us. This is probably the reason why we fail in many aspects of life. When we try to be content with what we have, surely, we can be the best in that field. I remember my formator saying, “We will work on what we have.”

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Randolph Pardiñas Lagrama, 24, studies at St. John the Evangelist School of Theology in Palo, Leyte. He writes during his personal time.