Pivot

Teaching small children how to play basketball is an interesting experience. They like to run with the ball, so one of the first things is explaining that they have to dribble if they move their feet. However, that creates another problem, being stationary when they stop bouncing the ball. They take that seriously, so it’s as if their feet are glued to the floor. This limits their field of view and possibilities of what to do next. Therefore, one of the things I teach in beginning practices is pivoting on one foot. This opens up the whole court to them, so their possibilities increase. They can pivot and shoot, pass or dribble, if they haven’t dribbled already.

Sometimes in life I feel mentally glued to the floor and the only options I see are ones I don’t like. Pivoting in my perception of the situation opens my mind up to see new possibilities. Here are three pivots I rely on often. The most common for me is pivoting from should have to next time. When I mess up instead of heading into negativity and beating myself up, I pivot into making it a learning opportunity. The next time this comes up I’ll handle it differently. I can get something positive out of it. I talked about this in the post Next Time, https://thishelpedme.org/2020/10/18/next-time/. I’ve done it so often for so long it’s become automatic for me.

Another excellent pivot point is changing have to into get to. I live in a place where summertime is always hot and often dry. I usually mow my lawn a couple times in the summer. This year my yard got seven inches of rain in July.  I’ve been mowing more than once a week and will mow again today after I finish this post. Instead of thinking of it as a burden I have to do, I’m grateful for the rain and get to mow it instead. There is almost always a piece of opportunity in every problem and something for which to be grateful. I pivot my thinking until I find it. To quote the The Daily Stoic, “…it might not seem like it makes a big difference to see life as something you have to do versus get to do, but there is. A huge, magnificent difference.”

Finally if no other pivots work for me I rely on something I heard my Mom say, this too shall pass. I may not like what’s going on. It may be hard to learn from it. It may be difficult to find the silver lining in the dark cloud. However, like all of existence, it is transitory. It will pass. I talked about blessings being temporary in my post, This Too Shall Pass https://thishelpedme.org/2023/07/30/this-too-shall-pass/. The same is true for problems. Whatever pain I’m going through won’t last forever. That helps me withstand it.

Most of my blog posts are about perception. I talked about the importance of managing how I see things in the post, The Key https://thishelpedme.org/2024/04/07/the-key/. Pivoting in basketball changes the game for the player pivoting, instead of having both feet glued to the floor. Pivoting my thinking when I’m mentally and emotionally stuck brings new possibilities within my view. That makes all the difference. Nothing more complicated than perception.

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.