Your secret Weapon against People who tries to Steal your Dreams
by: Breian Malupa

It was the end of the season's basketball league. All of our efforts, training and painful journey led us finally to the Grand finals. On the very the last dying seconds, I was fouled as I was driving to the basket. The buzzer went off and the time was over. We were down by one point and I had two free throws to sink in for the win. The fate of the whole team to win the Grand finals were at my hands.

As I was heading to the free throw line the pressure started to build. The whole stadium was shaking as the crowd roared with excitement and fear. As I stood at the free throw line, I could hear people yelling, “YOU CAN DO IT!!!”… “YOU GOT THIS!, YOU’RE THE MAN!”… “GO BREIAN!!, WOOOO!!”… At the same time, the opposition were trying to distract me. I lowered the volume and could only hear them so soft.

The pressure was now on. I was tired and I felt that my knees were now weak.

“What if I don’t sink this basket? I’ll be the laughing stock of all my peers.”

“What if I fail?... ‘Embarrassing’ would be an understatement.”

“I got a lot of people who believes in me, what if I can’t deliver?”

I bounced the ball three times. I took a breath, I bent my knees and proceeded with the shot.

... I missed the shot.

I heard the dismayed sounds of my supporters and the joy of the opposing team. My supporters started to cheer for me again, “Go Breian!!!, let’s take this to overtime!” The referee blew the whistle and signalled: ‘one final shot’.

“How could I missed it?... Now my chances are even lower!”

“Please go in, please go in!…”

I bounced the ball three times. I shut out all the noises and focused on the ring. I took a breath, I bent my knees and proceeded with the shot.

The crowd roared…

… I missed the second shot.

It was one of the unforgettable and devastating events in my life. I had let a lot of people down, especially the team who suffered the grueling time and effort to get to the grand finals. I was a failure…

“How could I missed two easy free throws after training every week for the season?”

Your Secret Weapon

There will be people; Family, friends or a team that will support you. The number one supporter you can ever have is yourself. Some people will believe in you in what you do or try to accomplish, and some people won’t… But the most important believer/supporter is yourself believing in you.

I didn’t miss the shot because I didn’t practice. I missed the shot because I didn’t believe in myself. I had hundreds of people who believed in me at that moment. Those hundreds of people were no match to the believer that was inside of me. That is the truth in you; the believer inside of you is far superior than the believers outside of you. It is far superior than you can imagine.

Some people may call it confidence, but confidence derives only from your belief. Confidence is your belief that you are capable. It is a subjective trust in yourself… whether arrogant confidence or experience confidence. It is a belief that you hold true within yourself. Anything that you hold true within yourself usually becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

“If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t. Either way, you are right.”  

A Different Mindset

Three seasons had passed and I found myself exactly in the same situation. Only now, the difference was that the crowd were louder and more intimidating than ever.

“He’s the guy who missed the shots for the win!”

“He won’t sink it, he’s crap!”

“You SUCK!... even my grandma can shoot better than you!” 

Yes, the difference was that I now have a different mindset. I now have confidence and I now believe in myself. As I heard some of the degrading curses and insulting enchants, I couldn’t help but smile deep inside. I knew without a doubt that I’m going to sink these two free throws.

I got to the free throw line and the referee made a signal ‘two shots’. The crowd were so loud that they were drowning all of my supporters.

I looked at the ring…

“I’ve done this during practice and I get it in all the time, this is no different.”

“I am a winner and I am good at shooting the basket, this is what I’ve trained for.”

“There are no pressures. There is no one guarding me. It’s just me and the ring.”

I bounced the ball three times. I looked at the ring and took a breath. I bent my knees and proceeded with the shot….

Shhhhoooookkk….

The referee signalled: ‘points goods and counted’. I hit the first shot. It was so precise and accurate that it didn’t touch the ring. Nothing but net!… I had one more shot for the win.

The crowd got wilder. It was a draw and the referee signalled: ‘one final shot’. It was wild, crazy and nail-biting. There were swear words thrown all over the place trying to deter me from making the next shot. Tension in the stadium was at all time high and the place trembled like an earthquake. I bounced the ball three times. I shut out all the noise and focused on the ring. I took a breath, I bent my knees and I proceeded with the shot…

Shhhhoooookkk… (Nothing but net!)

Triumph of Success

All of the supporters and my team mates rushed on the court in excitement and were jumping all over the place. The rest of the crowd and the opposing team were in silence. It was game over. Just like what my coach says, “You either win or you lose.” It doesn’t matter if you lose by one point or 20 points, you still lose. 

I walked to the opposing team and humbly shook the coach’s hand and the players, telling them that it was indeed a very good game. I humbly carried myself without ever going crazy and making attention.

Of course, deep inside mentally; I was running all over the place, yelling at the top of my lungs…

…“IN YOUR FACE!!!!”