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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I was never able to make the varsity basketball team at my tiny high school, and I believe if you are learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I wrap up my month of gratitude series.
Today’s fun fact:
Today’s Fun Fact: Yesterday, Sunday, November 29, Kobe Bryant announced that he will retire from basketball at the end of this NBA season. He wrote a very poignant poem entitled, “Dear Basketball” and posted it to ThePlayersTribune.com. He’s had a basketball in his hand since he was 2 years old, so this will mark the biggest change of his life. So for today’s fun fact, let’s take a look at the NBA career of Kobe Bryant.
- Kobe was the first guard to be drafted straight out of high school
- He was the 13th overall pick of the 1996 NBA draft, taken by the Charlotte Hornets
- The Hornets and Lakers had a prearranged agreement that sent Kobe to the Lakers immediately after he was drafted
- His NBA career will have lasted 19 seasons (the average is 4.8)
- He is a 17 time NBA all star, with a chance to make it 18 this season
- He is the Lakers all-time leading scorer
- He won the 1997 slam dunk contest
- He has won 3 Olympic gold medals
- He won the NBA scoring title twice
- He is third on the NBA all-time points list
- He was voted the most valuable player in the NBA in 2008
- He won the NBA Finals MVP award twice
- He is a 5 time NBA champion
What I learned yesterday.
It may seem random that I would give so much air time to Kobe Bryant, but the truth is, I have a lot of respect for what he has accomplished in the NBA. His second to last game will be here in Oklahoma City, and I think it would be great to go watch it in person. However, that’s not the only reason I included him in today’s intro.
As I’ve been talking about gratitude this month, I really wasn’t sure how I was going to wrap it up. In fact, it wasn’t until a few hours ago that I made that decision. About an hour or two after I made that decision, I saw Kobe’s retirement announcement and it seemed like a natural fit for today’s episode.
Today I want pause, reflect, and take inventory. I want to take inventory of just a small sampling of what I have to be grateful for.
On Thursday I sat down at a table in a kitchen full of food and shared a delicious meal with my family. That included my wife of 16 years, my 11 year old son, and my daughter who turned 13 on that day. It also included my brother who served 2 tours in the Iraq war after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and my dad who served during the Vietnam war. I was also joined by my grandmother, who at the age of 89, is getting frailer each year, and her friend Betty, who was kind enough to join us for lunch.
On Friday we gathered at my in-laws house and shared another delicious meal with my loving and supportive mother and father-in-law. My two ornery brothers-in-law, my sister-in-law, Missy, and my 3 nephews and one of my nieces. It was loud and fun all at the same time.
On Saturday my grandmother called, frantic and crying. She lost her footing and fell. She hit her head on her kitchen table, and hurt her wrist. After a trip to the ER, we learned that the hit to her head was just a minor contusion and nothing more. However, her wrist was broken. She’ll be going to the doctor today to see if it will need a cast or not. She’s now recovering and doing well, albeit very frustrated by her sudden limited capabilities brought on by only having one hand.
Then there are some good friends of mine, Breck and Kaylea. I’ve known Kaylea for 8 years or so, since she first came to our church as a college freshman. She’s now a college graduate, a wife, and a mother of 2 boys. In fact, she just delivered her second child on Tuesday of last week. On Friday night, an ice storm came through much of Oklahoma and Breck and Kaylea lost power to their house. As I write this, they are still without power and staying with friends. Yesterday, Breck’s car was stolen. It’s situations like theirs that make it easy to understand the expression, “When it rains, it pours.”
But Kaylea is inspiring. She acknowledges that this is probably in the top 3 of the most challenging week’s she’s ever faced, and yet to hear her talk about all of the events of this week are to hear her express deep gratitude.
As I reflected on my grandmother and Kaylea today, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I consider myself a grateful person. I spend time nearly every day of my life taking time to reflect on all I have, and give thanks to God for it. I do this for a variety of reasons.
First, I believe that taking time to reflect on all we have helps us gain true appreciation for it. It keeps us humble, helps prevent us from taking things for granted, and keeps us from falling into the trap of always wanting something more, something bigger, or something newer.
Second, it helps improve our spirit. This world can be an ugly and selfish place. When we take time to reflect and be grateful, it helps to bring our perspective into a positive place. When we’re in a positive place, we can help bring others to a positive place.
You see, I don’t assume that the blessings I enjoy now, will always be here. Life changes. Circumstances change. People change. The world is in continuous change. Each day we are all one step closer to losing our ability to play professional basketball, or not being able to live alone anymore. Any day could be the day our car gets stolen or we face some other unforeseen injustice.
If I’m an NBA player, and I’m not grateful for everything I have that doesn’t take place on the court, what happens to me when I can no longer play? If I don’t take time to be grateful for all the blessings of life, what will my frame of mind be when my car gets stolen 4 days after delivering a new baby?
Gratitude begets perspective. Perspective is what gets us through the tough times.
So today, here are a few of things for which I am grateful:
- A loving and supportive wife
- Two bright, fun, and healthy kids
- A job that lets me work from home and help make the world a better place
- The friendship and wisdom of my pastor
- A beautiful home that keeps me cool in the summer and warm in the winter
- Easy access to water and food of all varieties
- Creativity, wisdom, comprehension, discernment, and compassion
- Two cars that are dependable
- Good and trustworthy neighbors
- Incredibly good health despite being born 6 weeks premature
- Christ’s sacrifice and the salvation He provides
- A dad that taught me the value of hard work
- Access to various forms of education
- The friends I’ve made through podcasting
- The experience and knowledge gained from my previous career
- That my business is growing quickly and steadily
- Technology that connects me to friends and family around the world
- The ability to take vacations with my family
- Possessing the skills, dexterity, curiosity and courage to work on my own car
- Easy access to electricity and high-speed internet
While this list of 20 things is just a small sampling of all I am grateful for, it gives a good representation of the variety of things I consider. As I’ve mentioned time and time again, our perspective is so important that I don’t think it can be overstated. I don’t know Kobe Bryant and I can’t tell you what his perspective will be after he retires, but I do know my friend Kaylea. Her perspective in the midst of this challenging time is inspiring to me. She’s not focused on what they don’t have, namely no electricity and one less car, she’s focused on what they do have. By keeping her mind in a position of gratitude, she is able to keep perspective, stay positive, and ride this wave rather than be pulled under by it.
So as I wrap up this month of gratitude, I hope it has helped you. I hope that it has inspired you to look deeper and search wider to discover a whole new level of things for which to be grateful. I hope it has helped lighten your load, lift your head, and boost your spirit. We all have much to be grateful for, this and every day of our lives.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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