Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Confusion and Wandering

I taught my 5th grade team our base offense last night at practice. I made them walk through it slowly to make sure they saw the options and knew where their teammates would be. We spent time talking about it, discussing options and problems that might present themselves during a game. Then we scrimmaged another team that was practicing on the other half of the court. There guards put pressure on our guards and all of the sudden, my players couldn't remember anything we were supposed to do. It was confusion and chaos driven by pressure applied by an outside force. I got so frustrated but I understand because I too often lead my life the same way. I know what I need to do but outside forces put pressure on me and I lose focus and things quickly become chaotic.

The easiest way for my basketball team to overcome the confusion and chaos is to have someone they can focus on that will help them do what they are supposed to do. On my team, the point guard needs to help them get in the right position, to get them focused on where they should be and what they should do. Of course, he can't make them do it right because the game doesn't stop. I don't intend this to be a "God is your point guard" analogy but the ideas are parallel. God will help us get in the proper place mentally, emotionally and physically if we will let Him help, if we will focus on Him and listen to His words.

I have as much trouble doing that as my 5th graders do getting setup in a formation but I know it's something I can work on and pray that my focus and my the actions of my life will improve with time.

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