Tonight my husband and I took our daughter to the Utah Jazz vs Boston Celtics Basketball game.  We had given our daughter tickets to the game for her Christmas present as her favorite player is Rajon Rondo of the Celtics.  She was really bummed out when he tore his ACL and she found out he wouldn’t be playing in the game, but she was still really excited to go.  And even though she loves Rajon, she of course was rooting for the Jazz to win the game.  Unfortunately the Jazz lost in overtime tonight, but the game was fantastic and a ton of fun to watch.  Before I share what I learned from the game I thought it would be fun to share a few photos of our night:

Excited for the game to begin

Meeting one of our Hero’s: L. Tom Perry

Jazz Bear attacking Ashley and her friend

As we drove home I couldn’t help but think of how cool the dynamic is at a basketball game.  There is something incredibly energizing about having an entire stadium of people cheering for their team to win.  There is a passion and energy amongst the crowd that you cannot help but get caught up in. The music and dancing just adds to the fun. Having so many people focused on a common goal of winning is incredibly exciting.  And I love that everyone is cheering each other on.  Total strangers become friends for the period of the game, high-fiving the people around them that they have never even met before.  Everyone is united.    

I also think there is so much excitement in watching these incredibly talented players who have truly honed their skills to the point that it is genuinely a thing of beautiful to watch them play.    They inspire everyone watching to want to grow in their own talents and abilities.  It is just awesome.

One great lesson that I took away from tonight’s game: 

The Jazz and Celtics were tied and the game went into overtime.  The Celtics pulled ahead in the last minute of the game and it looked impossible for the Jazz to catch up.  What really impressed me is that even though everyone knew that the chances of the Jazz winning were almost nil with just a few seconds on the clock, the Jazz players still gave it 100%.  You could see that they were exhausted and worn out and somewhat discouraged in that last minute, but nonetheless they kept going and they didn’t let up for even a second.  Even though they didn’t win the game tonight, it was truly inspiring to me to see that they continued to give full effort right up til the final bell rang.  It would have been so easy to slack off and just let the clock run out, but they didn’t do that, and win or lose they could walk away tonight knowing they gave it their all and ultimately that is what matters in life, for all of us.  It isn’t whether we win or lose in life that counts, it’s that we give it 100% and we keep trying all the way until our final bell rings, walking away knowing we left it all on the court.  That is winning.  For all of us.  Thanks Utah Jazz for reminding me of that tonight!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

~Amy