During the timeout before a big shot, Michael Jordan would tell himself, “I’ve been here before.” Then, Mike would take the big shot.
As I type, Hurricane Helene is barreling toward our home in Western Carolina, bringing along a 1000-year flood. My wife and I haven’t experienced a hurricane before, nor twelve inches of rain over a 24-hour period, but we’ve been here before in the way that MJ meant. He’d never experienced the exact shot he was about to take, but he’d experienced the pressure of that shot many times before.
This week, as I’ve done things I’ve never done before—clear basement water, snake out gutters, pack emergency supplies—I’ve tried to remind myself that “I’ve been here before.” Tornadoes, blizzards, heat warnings, the like. Not the same, but similar. That reassurance was all I needed to take the next step forward, to take the next shot.
We’ll never know what’s ahead, but if we remember where we’ve been, that’s all we really need to be ready.
To livin’ a life we love,
Ryan Fightmaster, MD