what basketball taught me about my breakup

it's a great postseason for both of my alma maters

on one hand, you have the ever so dominant san beda red lions always being there in the finals of the ncaa, this time around, waiting at the end of the stepladder after having swept the entire season winning all games. on the other hand, you have the underdog triumph of the ust growling tigers overcoming the stepladder format of the uaap from the bottom of the final four.

i've always been a collegiate basketball fan since san beda ended their 28-year championship drought back in 2006, and i've had my fair share of tense moments, bitter defeats, and sweet wins. but lately i haven't been as engrossed as i usually do, and given my bad situation being fresh from a breakup, i needed this medium of being able to vicariously share the victory of a bunch of basketball players in college - to have my spirits uplifted.

while there's no shortage successes from my teams, it's not in the accomplishments i find value in. it's during the crucial moments where my teams are down and they need to regain the lead because not being able to do so will spell the end of their season. i'm usually an animated person with passionate reactions to everything, but being an athlete taught me to remain calm and focus on getting through the task at hand despite the tremendous amount of pressure from the crowd, the team, your opponents, and especially from yourself.

for the first time in a long time, i was able to revisit my ability find my inner zen and gain insights about the game that applies to real life:

it's okay have the lead taken from you, next possession is a chance to get it back

the hardest worker and the smartest players are those that find success

sometimes the breaks of the game aren't in your favor, stick to the system and make sure you keep at doing what is right

when you have nothing to lose, take risks like you have everything to gain

your errors in the first quarter, no matter how big or small, won't matter if you work hard to redeem your team until the final buzzer

at any moment, the momentum can move to your favor

even when you miss that shot or got blocked, do your best to get the ball from the rebound for the second chance points

it's okay to be down so long as you keep putting up a fight

and it's okay to lose someone, especially when that player doesn't fit the team's system

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