How I Practice Courage — Listening to Vusi Thembekwayo
By: Trevor Huffman
Tags: Self Improvement, Life Lessons, Courage, Mindset, Self

3:00 p.m.: Be a master of my process today, if I want to be legendary tomorrow.

Pro sports taught me that today is the most important day. This moment is the most important moment. Because our excuses are usually valid, Vusi Thembekwayo said. Our excuses are usually valid. Poor people can say, “Well, I’m poor, I just didn’t have the resources.” Kids from single-parent homes can say, “Well, my parents didn’t love me, I’ll self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.” Obese people can say, “My genetics aren’t good, working, nutrition, and fitness will never change me.”

Our excuses are valid, what are yours?

Our excuses can stop progress. That’s why they are called excuses — but what if challenge each excuse with a solution to that problem? When we don’t get credit for what we are trying to earn, what do we do?

When Visu said, “Black people weren’t ready for freedom,” I wondered what he meant.

Did he mean Black people weren’t ready because the excuses that come with taking responsibility for your life are still the same, regardless of circumstance, income, or privilege?

This is a societal and world problem, not just a skin color (easy for me say after the white culture has ruined the equal chance of Black education, income, and right to freedom).

But in South Africa, after the apartheid, what happened?

Visu says they weren’t ready and I wonder, is anyone ready for the responsibility of freedom?

How can we achieve anything if don’t have a mindset that empowers our society to become better, more compassionate, more loving, and strong?

There are certain rules that our universe lives by — like gravity for instance — that prove if you step off a bridge you will fall to whatever is below.

What are the principles of a powerful mindset our next generation isn’t learning? There is a certain process that we must believe we can do and achieve to start the process of earning our eudaemonia.

5:00 p.m.: Redefine your terms and your own success.

Somedays, I feel like just getting to the gym is a success. Other days, I feel like really pushing my body and mind to the limits is a success. I morph and evolve with success. I’m malleable. I can’t expect to be the same athlete I was at 25, but I can continue to train like one. I can continue to push into my fears and compete against the humans around me.

I find this fun.

I find competition fun.

I don’t hold onto losing as others do. I’ve lost so much as a pro basketball player, losing is just another learning experience; an iteration I can plug into my human happiness algorithm.

6:00 p.m.: Self-worth is an important value to practice.

Society is sarcastic and cynical — it celebrates our super heroes, but not men and women like you and I that aren’t in the media every day. There are 100’s of true heroes around us — the single mother going to work, the father raising his children, kid waking up to chase his dream of playing college basketball.

These are the heroes we should celebrate — not the politicians. The con artists. The media experts. We look through history to judge the shitty nature of people. How crappy we’ve been to each other.

Anne Frank was an example of infinite hope.

She was just a little Jewish girl who told the world of her life from an Amsterdam attic.

If Anne Frank can be a hero in the worst times of humanity, why should I be jaded and cynical?

If Viktor Frankl can laugh and have hope for a better tomorrow, why should I have resting bitch face?

If Nelson Mandela can suffer for 20 years, why can I not suffer for one day for something that will bring me more health, happiness, and joy tomorrow?

What is it that you want your masterpiece of a day to bring?