Spiritual & Inspirational Sunday September 20, 2009

Welcome to my Spiritual & Inspirational Sunday post. For over twenty-five years I have collected various spiritual and  inspirational quotes and messages. My hope is that when you read these, you will pause and reflect. Perhaps you will share this post with a friend who just so happens to be in need of reading what I am sharing today.

In honor of Michael Jordan recently being inducted into the NBA Basketball Hall of Fame, I thought I would share some of his quotes. Both my son and daughter were basketball players in elementary, middle, and high school. This coincided with the Michael Jordan era. He was their hero. My daughter bordered on being obsessed with him. She watched his video “Come Fly With Me” so many times she had the words memorized. She attended his basketball camp held in Chicago two years in a row. He actually showed up a couple of times during each camp and spoke to the kids as well as took individual photos with each of them. Talk about a kid being on cloud nine!  I still have boxes of MJ t-shirts and other memorabilia that she collected. On my recent trip to California, I saw a magazine devoted to Michael Jordan’s career at the news store. I bought it to give to my daughter even though she is now thirty years old! I have to admit that I read the magazine from cover-to-cover myself.

In case you are not familiar with Michael Jordan’s story, he failed to make the ninth grade basketball team. He took that rejection and used it to fuel his desire to prove the coach wrong. The rest is history.

Besides his God-given physical ability, it is his determination and mental toughness that made him the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. I believe with anyone who has earned the title of being the greatest at what they do, there is much to be learned from their mental approach to their sport or craft. Perhaps you will gain some inspiration from Michael Jordan.  Blessings.  …susan

Quotes by Michael Jordan

I'm not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.

I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

I've never been afraid to fail.

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.