This is not a test

I want to take you back a couple years to your school days. Do you remember what it was like to study for a test? To have the determination to sit down for hours until you knew that you mastered the material? Then the faithful day came, and you knew you were going to ace the test.

A week later you got your grade back, which may or may not have been what you expected. Then fast forward a year…someone asks you any of the information from that test and you stare at them like you have no idea what they are talking about. So, what did you really learn?

Life is very similar. We can choose to focus on the learning (the studying) or the outcome (the test). In life, the learning opportunities are often our trying times. For example, when finances are tight, we are fighting with our spouse, or anytime when we must walk in faith not knowing our next step. The outcomes are the results in life: the new job title, the new car, the vacation to Hawaii. When we focus on the outcome instead of the learning process, we miss the point. Life is NOT A TEST! We should not be walking blindly through a series of circumstances just to get something. Let’s stop and evaluate. Are we working a job we hate just to get a paycheck? Putting up with a toxic person just to get free tickets to the Heat games? “Dealing” with our kids until we can get them off to school/sports/etc? If any of these ring true, I urge you to re-evaluate your situation. Why? Because you are living for the outcome, not the learning.

When we are focused on the outcome, we miss the little things in the present. We miss our purpose. When we “deal” with our kids instead of loving and listening to them, we miss out on so many moments we will never get back. Like seeing the picture they drew that says I Love You. Or them opening up to us about their hopes and dreams. We cannot turn back time, so let’s not take for granted what we have. Let’s focus on enjoying the learning moments and actually learn something from them.

What a concept! By applying discipline in each moment, we can appreciate our current situation, determine the lesson learned, and choose our actions going forward. This is so freeing, as this means we can choose a different path. We don’t have to repeat our damaging choices! Always remember, life is not a test we are studying for, it is a series of lessons from which we can learn. So, study on my friends!

Charlie Miller is an entrepreneur, public speaker, and master basketball trainer. He has owned his business, ATTACK Basketball Academy for 7 years and is passionate about mentoring the youth of today. You can contact him by email at charlie@attackbball.com.


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