How high is your hoop?

HOW HIGH IS YOUR HOOP?


Today, as I was out and about and I drove by a house that had their freestanding basketball hoop out by the road. The family had lowered the hoop down for obviously smaller kids. I instantly thought of our same kind of hoop at home and how it stands at regulation height. I thought about how it used to be that none of our kids could shoot high enough to even hit the hoop and how now even some of the younger ones can hit that hoop. Our son, Luke, is our newest one in the "STAR*" game. He is 9yo and each day I watch him shoot from a little farther back and am so proud, as he is, of his accomplishment.

Then I thought about the unseen kids that use that hoop. Their parents have set their sights lower, not asking as much from their kids. Making it easier for them to succeed at a lower level. At first I thought about how it would build their confidence and how maybe we should have done that for ours. And then I thought about our children aiming higher. We expect more and don't want to give false highs but let them achieve that sense of confidence that only comes after perseverance and success that they know they have earned without any parent clapping in the background. The confidence that comes from within.

We want our kids to achieve to their greatest ability. If we make it easy for them then we rob them of the hard work that gives them the tools they need to succeed at other things. If we make it easy then they go out expecting others to do the same. And when they fall short, setting their sights lower to keep it easy, then what will they accomplish in the end? When they are placed against their peers who will fall short? The peer who has learned to aim high or the peer who never had to as it was always brought down to make it easier for them?

Yeah... and I got that all from a lowered hoop! You will see at the top of this post a picture of our basketball hoop that is not out in the street. As you can see... We set out sights high for ourselves, for our children, for our life. How high is your hoop? :o)*

(STAR is our version of HORSE with a positive twist. If you lose you are not a horse... you are a star.)