Revisiting Summer League

I just got home from my THIRD NBA Summer League adventure. Oh gosh. Doesn't it feel like just yesterday that we were all reading over my FIRST Summer League post, and now, here I am, a seasoned veteran of the Vegas Summer League adventure. Time flies, right? 

I promise Stephen was there, too, we just never grabbed a pic with him! 

This year we had kind of a different Summer League experience. We ended up driving down on Saturday morning, because I don't have any PTO and the guys didn't buy tickets to Friday prior to the tickets selling out, so we all drove down just for Saturday, which was a BLAST. 

This morning we went to a sacrament meeting in St. George. As I was sitting there, reflecting during the sacrament, I had this overwhelming feeling of peace wash over me, and a reminder that the friends I was with would keep me safe. It was one of those moments where I was reminded of who I once WAS and who I AM today. 

This past year I have been faced with trials that were somewhat new. A lot of loss. It felt like up to this point, most of my trials were personal. Most of them were about me. This past year has been about bearing the burdens of others trials. Mourning with those that mourn. Comforting those who stand in need of comfort. It has been a constant stream of me feeling overwhelmed for the struggles and trials in my friends and neighbors lives.  It has also been a constant stream of my own personal trials. I have cried more this past year than I have probably my whole life, which, for those who know me, know is a LOT of crying. It has been emotionally draining year, and I'm kinda a pretty big wreck most of the time. 

I was with one of my dearest friends this past week, processing the loss of her baby at 38 weeks, and I was commenting on how I wished I could take away all the bad things that happened to my friends and family and save them from the pain. She reminded me - this wise friend who had just lost her daughter - that we need the pain or we won't ever progress.

I guess that's what Summer League always reminds me - this is the beginning of the pain. The beginning of the hard workout sessions. The beginning of the losses. The beginning of the trades. The beginning of the free agency drama. The beginning of a hard road. 

But that's not what we focus on, right? We don't focus on the bad parts of basketball. We hold onto the HOPE that the hard things will be combined with the joy. The joy of great games. The joy of winning. The joy of great teammates. The joy of the fans cheering you on. The joy of a great coach. The joy of a championship. 

We focus on the joy, right? 

We have to, right? 

That hope that is connected to the joy that CAN come keeps us going forward, even in the hard times. I couldn't go through life without the hope of the joy coming through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

So, yeah, revisiting Summer League was just as much a reminder of the growth and the pain that needs to come in this life in order for us to really reach our potential. The reminder that we have to have the pain and the hardships that come with our mortal experience that help us progress to the better versions of ourselves. The BEST versions of ourselves. As horrible and as hard as they are, those hard trials are what turn us into the best version of ourselves - the one the Lord WANTS us to become.