MOMENTS OF INSPIRATION

I turned 16 in July, the summer before my Junior year in high school. I played basketball and had played junior varsity my sophomore year, although the coach had "suited me up" for the varsity team, mainly because I was 6'3" and he saw some potential. That summer I was working very hard on my game, practicing daily, and I had a secret goal. I wanted to dunk a basketball. Most of my summer play was on outdoor, concrete courts. I couldn't get much spring off the hard surface. I was barely able to get my fingers over the rim with a two step leap - Right foot forward then I'd spring off my left foot. I decided to start by trying to dunk a tennis ball. I was doing leg exercises, jumping over and over, doing squats with a teammate on my back, anything to build up my jumping ability. Our basketball coach opened the gym so we could practice indoors. One day, while practicing dunking the tennis ball I was able to get the ball, on the tips of my fingers, over the rim. I was thrilled. I had actually dunked a tennis ball!. Now I was ready to move on to a volleyball. I could grip a volleyball with my right hand. Now all I needed to do was get enough of my fingers over the rim. Sure enough in a couple weeks I dunked a volleyball. I was ready to dunk a basketball, but there was a slight problem. I had just average size hands. I could not grip a basketball in my fingers. A friend suggested I try something pro bowlers used called "Pro-Grip". It was a little like glue for your fingers. I still couldn't grip the ball but when I jumped the ball stuck to my fingers. Day after day, week after week I tried dunking the ball. I was getting closer. I could tell my exercises and leg strength was improving. Also, the timing of my jumping was getting better. I was starting to feel like I was actually "soaring" through the air. My body seemed to "hang" a little longer at the rim. Now, it was late summer, almost September, and near the start of my Junior year. For some reason I felt very energized that morning, happy, and strong. I didn't try jumping or dunking. I just shot baskets for a couple hours. It was a hot day outside. I had worked up a good sweat. I was ready to leave the gym. On my way toward the locker room I dribbled the ball toward the glass backboard. I made my right foot/left foot jumping step, springing off my left foot. Suddenly, I felt myself rising, gliding easily higher than I ever had before. Not only did my fingers make it above the rim, my entire right wrist was above the rim. At the top of my jump, perfectly timed with the ball squarely in my fingers and palm, I slammed the ball down through the net. I couldn't believe it. I was giddy with excitement. I was gasping at myself in amazement. The ease of it. How amazing it felt to float that high. How was it possible that suddenly I jumped 4 to 5 inches higher than I had ever jumped before? I raced around the court to try it again. This time I made it even higher and dunked the ball through again. I couldn't believe it. My mind raced with this almost magical feeling. Within a week I was able to jump with my forearm ( between my wrist and elbow) above the rim. Soon after that I could touch my elbow on the rim. I began to dunk with two hands, then two hands over my head, backwards. It was a thrilling achievement for me, because that had been such a big goal of mine. Looking back, I see that mysterious breakthrough as a Moment of Inspiration. One in which I was very relaxed, highly energized, happy, but not particularly focused on achieving the goal. It felt effortless. It seemed to happen naturally. When the moment of inspiration came, I was ready, felt confident. After that moment I always knew, that I could and would achieve that particular "level" of achievement again and again. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In thinking back on that special time in my youth, and looking at various events in my life, where moments of inspiration have seemed to deliver a "leap" forward, I discovered that most people seem to have had experiences where they reached a "plateau" and felt that they were not moving forward. Some people give up, or stop at this point, but others continue toward their goal, often realizing a special moment where time stands still for an instant, but they move forward, often in a unique moment as if a hand reaches down and pulls them up to a higher level. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I recently watched a race where, previously, this girl had run her best mile time of 5:37. In this National event she started out with the pack, but suddenly at the half mile mark she began accelerating away from everyone. Many people, including myself, thought she might "burn out" and fall back in with the herd, yet she kept on pulling away. By the last lap she had a 200 yard lead over everyone. What was really astonishing was that she finished with a time of 5:04. That was 33 seconds faster than her previous fastest time. Was it a moment of inspiration for her? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In the Moment of Inspiration things seem to flow effortlessly for the person who is achieving something creative or some new level of performance. An author struggles for an idea. Suddenly ideas are flowing thru him and he is scribbling frantically to capture the words and images that are flowing freely as if from a fountain. When Michaelangelo was asked how he had created the Statue of David out of single block of Marble, it is reported that he replied that he had not carved the image. Instead, in his mind, he saw the image, incased in the stone. He was inspired to chip away the excess rock to reveal the statue that was already there. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Maybe that is the true magic of moments of inspiration. If we can get out of our own way, we may be able to realize a dream in a different or unique way. Maybe by letting go of our determination to control the outcome, we allow a kind of energy to take over. An energy that is much more powerful than we are, and one that harnesses our true ability to achieve greatness. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Whatever power is behind the magic of Moments of Inspiration I believe that in order to "tap into" this great and mysterious resource, within us, we must first lay the ground work, and position ourselves for the moment to appear. WE do this through hard work, through living and thinking "right", preparing for the moment to flow through us. And I believe that every success, every failure, every setback is part of our future success. We must go through trials, in order to achieve what is meant to be. We must feed our soul, mind with positive images, and positive self talk. We must have the expectation that success is our destiny.