“That’s alright, we don’t quit.”
I said playfully as she looked at me for a signal on how she should feel about missing her shot.
“We take that ball and we put it right back up again.”
And so she refocused on the basketball rim, scrunched her little body down like a spring, and shot the ball back up with all her might.
Missing again, she looked at me again for a signal on how she should feel.
Without even the slightest hesitation I repeated exactly the same line.
And without any further hesitation, she refocused, scrunched back down, and shot it back up.
And this continued again and again and again until around shot number 16 when she finally made it.
And what I loved the most about this experience today wasn’t just the playful acceptance of failure as being a part of the process towards success… nor was it the fact that she made one of her first ever basketball shots on a regulation rim at seven years old (and one of those outdoor double rims at that)… but it was what her little four year old brother did after watching the whole thing unfold.
He ran up and asked if he could try—and of course we let him.
And after missing his first shot… rather than cry or get mad or give up… completely unprompted he said: “That’s alright, we don’t quit.”
…And playfully asked if he could take another shot.