Do you ever feel left out or neglected? Do you feel like the harder you work the more you want something, but when it doesn’t come then your dejected and frustrated? Do you feel that sometimes the world withholds what you feel you deserve?

I think that we have all experienced these feelings in our lives. I witnessed this in my son last night, as well as at other times. He has fallen in love with playing basketball. He has started working at getting better. It has been great to see a personal motivation out at the basketball hoop shooting and dribbling. He really wants to improve. As a father it brings a sense of pride in my son.

In youth league basketball it is hard to get these boys to play the right way. It’s like watching a scrum run around in packs and try to get as close to the basket as possible. They tend to stay in packs or one player rises above the rest.?If one kid is bigger than everyone else he feels he can drive straight to the basket without involving his teammates. Needless to say, there is little passing that takes place.

As my son continues to practice it is starting to equate to better skill. Unfortunately he is not seeing it fully pay off in games yet. As mentioned above, there is not a lot of passing hat happens. He feels like the one left out and not getting the ball. This can take its toll on a 10 year old boy. Just as well, similar experiences can take their toll on us as adults. We need confidence to keep going.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to witness, and capture on video, his first basket in a game. It was such an exciting moment for him and for me. We were both thrilled. Again, last night he was able to grab the rebound and put up the shot for another basket. He ran back down the court with his arms in the air like he had just made the game winning 3. So fun to see his excitement. This happened in the first half. When he came back in to play the second half he was only able to touch the ball a couple of times. He got frustrated when he was wide open and called for the ball to have his teammate pass it to another boy. That happened a couple more times. This was a big shot to his confidence in a negative way. It shook him for the rest of the night.

As a 10 year old boy he will get over it and get back out practicing and working to get better. He is a persistent kid and won’t let this beat him. As adults how do we react? We can choose to let dejection defeat us and stay mediocre in life or we can rise above it. Seeing the frustration in my son?s eyes taught me a tough lesson. We can not let life tear us up. We must learn from it and go forward working to be better in everything that we do. It is our choice to grow and succeed. Let us choose to do so and make this world a better place.

Here are three things that we can do to stay positive though we feel dejected

1. Prayer and Meditation

   Through continual prayer and meditation we show gratitude. We are able to focus on all of the great things that we have been given. It is a time a reflection that helps bring all things into perspective. I find a lot of peace through my quiet of moments of communing with my God and then pondering and finding clarity. This has brought me enlightenment and greater focus on what really matters.

2. Gratitude

   Coupled with prayer and meditation we show gratitude for what we have. My son could have stayed positive by reflecting on the successes that he had during his game. As he looks back and is grateful for the opportunities that he had he will slowly forget the times of being dejected and down. This will help him to find peace. Each us of need to write down the many things that we have been given. We can all find things to be grateful for.

3. Keep a Journal

   As we write?down how we feel, what we want and what struggles we are having then we can find an outlet. Writing helps us to not just think of our problems, but to be able to put them on paper and see them. As we do this we often find that our thoughts turn from where we were to what we can become. Writing down my?struggles and failures has always been a great way for me to look forward to what I need to do to change and be better. I can reflect on the moment and overcome the challenges that life has thrown at me.

I hope that these tips can help you overcome the demons that are inside each of us.