Another Kobe Story
This was an excerpt from a journal I wrote on January 2018. I was feeling uninspired and lost. I’m a big basketball fan. Basketball videos are my go-to whenever I need an extra push and inspiration, and out of the millions of basketball videos on YouTube, the universe led me to Kobe’s retirement speech. And these were his very words that saved me that night. I wrote them to remember. Excuse the messy penmanship.
Years passed, and honestly, there were so many moments I failed to live by his words. Moments I settled for being safe and mediocre. Moments I allowed inefficiency and self-doubt got the best of me. Moments I didn’t carry on just because it’s hard.
On the day he died, I decided to revisit this journal entry and realised that people like Kobe don’t happen overnight. They go through a process like how diamonds are made-- exposed to a lot of heat, made under a lot of pressure, beaten and cut. Many times. And they embrace the process with their whole heart regardless of the pain they have to endure.
Lately, I have been feeling sad because I have forgotten how to dream. I overwhelmed myself with obligations that I put things that make me feel alive on the backseat. But going back to this journal put a lot of things into perspective. I recalled the days I lost time for my passion yet I spent hours scrolling through instagram and wasting time doing things that don’t benefit my growth. It brought me back to the times I complained being tired that I have forgotten how to live for something greater than myself.
But here’s Kobe, on the day of his death, reminding me to make the most of what is given to me simply because I can do more and I can be more. Mamba Mentality. And true enough, we are the limitations we create. That the gap between us and our dreams is actually us.
Thank you, Kobe! May your life serves as a constant reminder for us to pursue greatness, not only in our craft but also in our every day lives as a human being. I hope I’d get to live my life the way you did and be able to inspire even a single soul out there to not give up, because that’s how you have inspired me.
From this day forward, I will never look at early wake up calls and late night passion sessions as a hindrance, but an opportunity to go beyond my limitations and to live the dream. And just in case I forget, I’d write it here one more time:
"Those times when you get up early and you work hard. Those times you stay up late and you work hard. Those times when you don't feel like working. You're too tired. You don't want to push yourself, but you do it anyway. That is actually the dream."
- Kobe Bryant
♡,
M
