Jewish Values on Building Persistence – CLICK TO COMMENT

By Nathan Botton  It was a sunny Sunday morning and the crowd was cheering as I dribbled the basketball up the court. I juked out two defenders and jumped as I shot the ball in the air. The ball made a swooshing sound as it went straight into the net. The crowd went wild. The score was 15-14, in our favor, with less than a minute left. The star player of the other team made a fast break down the court and scored the ball. There were ten seconds left and it was our only chance to win. I bounced the ball and let it loose at the 3 point line. It didn’t even come close. We lost the game by one point because of me. I went home feeling so ashamed.
I came to the court the next Sunday feeling so confident. I had practiced my shot all week and tried to forget about last week. I did fine the whole game. When it came to the last 30 seconds, the score was 23-21 in their favor. I stole the ball with 15 seconds left and I stopped short at the 3 point time. Déjà vu! I shot the ball and it made a satisfying swoosh as it scored. We won the game because of me. The whole team picked me up and started cheering. We won! We won, all because of me. From that I learned a valuable lesson, keep on trying, never give up!