Let me tell you a story about my good friend Jimmy.
Jimmy transferred to my high school his Junior year. He didn’t know anyone in our high school on the first day of school.
Jimmy was a good guy and over time became a part of our friend group and truly became a close friend to all of us.
The next year though, Senior Year, Jimmy stumbled across a problem that Winter. He enjoyed our friend group so much and the entire group was on the basketball team.
Everyone was on the team…. Except for Jimmy.
So what did Jimmy do? Well, he signed up for the basketball team.
I asked him if he played basketball.
“No” he answered.
I laughed and asked him when was the last time he played organized basketball?
“About Fourth Grade” he smiled.
We went to a small school so no one got cut from the team each year. So Jimmy 'made' the basketball team, on the JV team of course.
And he was pretty bad. It’s hard to just start playing basketball again at 17 years old when the last time you played was at 9 years old..
So as a Senior, he played on the JV squad. He didn’t even get to suit up for the Varsity games.
But he didn’t care. Jimmy got to hang out with his friends every afternoon for practice and be with us on all the bus rides.
Everyone in our school, all the parents, and all the fans knew he was only out for basketball to hang out with his friends.
But let me tell you. When Jimmy scored his first points of the season at the very end of a JV game with a fade away 3 pointer from the top of the key…
The ENTIRE crowd erupted! By erupted, I mean the concrete basement locker room vibrated and the old metal lockers rattled as our head coach gave his pregame Varsity speech.
And when Jimmy had the chance to suit up for a Varsity game, he teared up when coach handed him the uniform.
And toward the end of the game, as we were up by 20, the crowd started to chant for Jimmy to be put into the game.
"Jimm-y!...Jimm-y!....Jimm-y!"
The look on his face when he got into the game - he had finally made it onto the court with his best friends.
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So what are some lessons here..?
Be courageous like Jimmy. It takes a lot of courage to sign up for and do something that you know you are not going to be good at.
Also, care about your friends as much as he did. I am sure Jimmy was insecure about not being good and was sometimes embarrassed throughout the year, but he cared about his friends even more.
Be more like Jimmy.
Week 17 of 52
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