Killed it

I was explaining to Doz yesterday that I couldn't play good against certain people because of grudges or hate that I had for them.  I could play hard but wouldn't be able to shoot.   I started to play better because I killed that hate,  I'm only playing because basketball is fun for me. Why let anger or hate destroy that fun?   Once I kill the hate I'm free to focus on the things I want to do.

I noticed that in the Thanksgiving tournament I had fun when we were winning,  but hated the two games that we lost.   I switched the attitude for North American to have fun every game, and played alot better.  Our team came up short in both tournaments but I had more fun in North American.   If pressure to succeed,  pressure from a crowd,  or your friends is affecting your fun you have to kill the pressure.  

Once you learn to kill whatevers preventing you from doing what you want to do,  and focus on having fun,  everything becomes easier.  My last race at EWU I PR'd in 105 degree weather.  Beat a couple of people that were way faster than me.

Most of that season I would get mad because I was chasing a time,  I'd PR almost every race,  but would fall short of the expectations I had for myself.  Some of the faster people on our team would tell me, "You have to be happy,  you just ran faster than you've ever ran before".   But I would buckle under the pressure to succeed that I set for myself.  I wasn't supposed to race at conference, after my last meet I kind of partied for 3 days,  and then the coach said "You're going to Cali".   

When I got there it was ridiculously hot,  everybody else who was racing looked nervous,  and the people on our team said "Look at Dru,  he's bouncing around, looking relaxed." You can always do better than you did,   even in that race when my throat caught on fire it caught me off guard.  I slowed way down for a couple of laps because my throat was burning. But when it was all said and done that was one of my favorite races, because I killed the pressure and lived in the moment.

If what you're doing becomes more of a chore than fun,  learn to kill the negativity.