Alec--Ball is Life

Ball is Life

            Basketball.  Simple enough, a sphere that goes through a hoop, right? But, what does it mean?  To some, it’s a useless sport that measures no value.  To others, it’s boring to watch, but fun to play.  But to those enthusiasts, it’s what they indulge in.  It’s their pass-time, their entertainment, fitness, and mentality.  Without basketball, those certain individuals don’t know what to do.  But why is it so?  At least once in their life, everyone picks up a basketball and does something with it.  All those children no matter where have tried to shoot “something” into a “hoop”.  Whether it be the basketball court, the trash can, the recycling bin, a hula hoop and a rubber ball.  They’ve all done it.  Don’t try and deny it.  You have at least tried it.  And why is that so?  Monkey see, monkey do? Maybe.  Inspiration? Close.  Because it holds something more than just the moves and the sport? Exactly that.  Basketball expands way more outside its circle of NBA and what we watch on TV.  It’s about focus, discipline, inspiration, and fun. 

            In basketball, we create focus.  We focus on the game being played.  We focus on Derrick Rose’s health.  We focus on how the game will play out.  We focus so much into how things will be, it also applies to how it is outside.  That focus we can put into that, can go into other aspects of one’s work, school, or whatever it is.

            In basketball, we use discipline.  We discipline ourselves to watch the game so profusely.  We discipline ourselves just as Kobe did to perfect Michael Jordan’s jump shot.  We discipline ourselves to work harder.  The discipline we see, is something that we use to motivate ourselves in life.

            In basketball, we have inspiration.  We inspire ourselves every time we hear Michael Jordan’s story of not making his high school basketball team.  We inspire ourselves to learn that move we just saw on TV.  We put inspiration in the great comebacks and find motivation through that.  This inspiration is something greatly seen through other outlets, but very evident here.

            And most importantly, in basketball, we find fun.  The laughs we get after a crazy missed shot.  The fun we get out of playing with friends.  The joy we get from making that shot you’ve been trying to get all day.  The fun and happiness we gain in such a simple action portrays that of the way one should feel almost all the time. 

            Basketball doesn’t just stick as one “thing”.  It’s more of one big “thing” with so many small intricacies that it becomes an infinite amount of “things”.  And isn’t that what life is all about?  But to make things evident, it only means one thing. “Ball is life”.