Progression

Hey Readers,
So see this picture....See me bottom row second person from the left. Yes that is me in a basketball jersey without makeup and wearing those sporty head bands that keep your hair out of your eyes. Yes those are my cute little legs slightly blinding white but the point is that they are little and quite shapely if i can say so myself. This has been my latest endeavor. Now some of you may think it's no big deal to be on a basketball team that you didn't have to try out for or let alone play really well and still be able to get time on the courts but to me it's been a big deal.
I guess some people have considered me sporty but for those of you who really know me know that I'm not really sporty just knowledgeable about sports. For background I do have 5 very athletic and gifted brothers and I did play football and basketball with them regularly but I didn't play very well. I started ballet at the age of 4 and retired from that "sport" right before my 20th birthday. I still dance but just so you can all picture it all my "sporty" stuff is now done with a classically trained ballet mode. I run with my feet turned out and with proper posture. My husband who has perfect running form and could run 26.2 miles without any training and do it in record time has tried to correct my form to "improve" my running ability but he's fighting 15 years of ballet and old women with rulers yelling at me and constantly correcting my form so ballet always wins.
Jeremy has been really supportive of me running even if he silently snickers at what I consider my fast times and my long distances but when I told Jeremy I was going to go play basketball with other women Jeremy just couldn't take it any longer. He gently reminded me that I was not an athlete to help spare me embarrassment. Now maybe if I was a different woman I would have heeded his council and been satisfied with my pilates and running. But I'm prideful and his comments if anything spurred me on to prove him wrong.
Our first game I was completely intimidated. I could tell by the form of 9/10 of the women there had at least high school experience and wasn't shocked to find out many of them had college time as well. I play basketball like a ballerina trying to play basketball. My one and only advantage was that I was some what in shape and could run up and down the court without being winded. I still hyperventilated every time I was passed the ball and did my best to either pass it away or dribble a couple of times and make a ridiculous shot that somehow by a miracle at least came close to touching the basket.
But I played and was blown away when people said I was fast (because really I'm not) but I knew I was in shape enough to run about 4 miles without stopping.
Fast forward a few weeks and me feeling a little more comfortable about touching a basketball and actually being able to get it in the hoop. In addition I remembered how to guard and make other people feel intimidated by my "large" stature just as I'm starting to feel more comfortable the wonderful women I play with inform me that we're actually going to compete. I then start preparing my excuse why I can't play against other women and hope that for some reason I wouldn't be able to make it. But unfortunately I feel connected to these women and although my talent is so pale in comparison to theirs I know that I'll play with them. We practice a couple more times and sure enough the competition is here. I am so nervous by this day but that's where my competitive nature comes in. I have this fail safe feature about me that holds on to the fact that I'm AWESOME. As I contemplate my own awesomeness I realize that regardless of the out come of the competition I will remain AWESOME. It's how I've been my whole life and has gotten me through so much of my life but it's been awhile since I've had to rely on it.
We play a couple of games and do not look even close to the team that we've been as we've practiced together but I have a great time. We lose terribly but have a great time cheering each other on and show all the other teams how teams should look and act. As I looked at our defeat I started to wonder if this was just my lot in life. Always losing, coming in 2nd never really excelling and being my best. When my inner moderator (my personal biggest fan) reminds me of what I've accomplished. In a matter of weeks I went from barley being able to shoot a ball to being able to dribble a ball down a court calling a play and actually knowing where everyone should be after I call the play. I have improved and because of the friendships and pure awesomeness of these ladies I am continually improving.
Here's where I bring everything into perspective for everyone by yet another story from my life. I have had the privilege of getting to know nearly all of my great grandparents and have learned so much from them. My Father's maternal grandparents have by far been such role models to me. My Great Grandpa Warner was raised in a small community in Utah County during the great depression he met his wife on a blind date and was smitten to begin with. They were so in love with each other and were able to raise a beautiful family. My father was very close with them as the oldest grandchild and they loved him more than I'm sure he will ever realize. As my father aged and started his own family we were able to have a very unique and close relationship with my great grandparents. I remember spending many days fishing, gardening and enjoying the company of my great grandparents. When I was little I didn't realize what the great meant and honestly thought they were called great grandparents because in fact they were GREAT. Grandpa was always learning. Many times we would stop by around lunch time and find Grandpa reading some sort of book usually trigonometry or some other informative book. When Grandpa was in his mid-80's he bought a computer and started to teach himself how to use it and began writing out his own personal history. Sadly enough Grandma died and 3 months later Grandpa died of a broken heart. They were such a power couple always learning and progressing themselves and improving upon what they were given.
Now here I am 28 years old and I know that I need to also be improving and progressing. Right now it's easy to improve my health and be physically active. But with Basketball I was also able to improve my mind, my relationships with others and my overall self worth. So here's to more progression. More improving who I am and pushing that envelope of what I'm comfortable with all the time.
Thanks to the Charlie's Angels/Nancies/working girls that I play with and help me improve myself. And for any of you out there feeling really comfortable where you are try pushing yourself out just a little bit more and remember that this life is to progress and improve upon what we've been given.