I am a big Orlando Magic fan. I just got back from the game tonight against the Indiana Pacers. This year, the Magic are one of the top teams in the NBA and the league is really starting to take notice. The Pacers are currently floating around .500. Tonight’s game should have been an easy win for the Magic. It turns out, the Magic got beat all the way around.
As soon as the game was over, I got in my car and turned on the radio to listen to the post game commentators and call in listeners with their comments. Many of the comments were of a gloom and doom nature. After a loss many fans quickly started focusing on all of the negatives and were complaining about every aspect of the game (even though their record is 16-5). I got tired of hearing the negative comments so I turned off the radio. I try to avoid negative things.
The only attention I give to anything negative is to use it to learn how NOT to do something. Learning from mistakes is very valuable if you don’t use the mistakes as an excuse to quit striving for your goals. Every mistake eliminates another way not to do something so you are one step closer to conquering your task. Don’t let the negative bring you down. Don’t dwell on it.
We’ll see how the Magic do at their next game. Will they hang their heads by focusing on the fact that they lost to a team they should have beat, or will they learn from their mistakes and improve their play to be winners?
More importantly, will you hang your head the next time you fail and call it quits? Or, will you learn from your mistakes and make the necessary changes to improve your success and move on knowing you are even closer to your goals?
It is your choice which path you will take.
- Hill Robertson
