Making Dreams Come True

Being charitable and lending a hand to those around us is something we're all familiar with but helping so that others can meet their dreams takes the Good Samaritan philosophy to a whole new level.

The story of high school basketball coach, Jim Johnson and his equipment manager, Jason McElwain, (AKA J-Mac) is a great illustration of what this concept is all about.


On Feb. 15, 2006, Coach Johnson gave J-Mac an opportunity to play in the final game of the regular season by inserting him for the last four minutes.

And that's when a MIRACLE happened:



Jim Johnson joined me on HCL Radio to talk about the story that inspired the book, "A Coach and a Miracle".

As you'll hear from the coach, it's a story that provided hope and inspiration not to only those involved but to others as well.

Helping dreams come true does three things:

• It demonstrates kindness
• Reinforces the importance of our individual actions and the impact it can have on others
• Motivates people to help others.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith

See you on the court!

Homecourt Advantage

If you ask any basketball player about home court advantage, they'll probably tell you that the comforting feeling of performing in front of their fans is a definite advantage over their opponents.

An arena filled with 20,000 people making noise and screaming in support of the hometown squad is probably the ultimate psychological advantage.



While it may not guarantee a win it certainly helps swing the pendulum a bit further in your direction. Being at home eliminates the pressure of playing on the road, sleeping in a different bed or getting comfortable in a new enviorment.

But there are times when we have to produce outside of your comfort zone.

Staying within our boundaries of comfort and familiarity generally is the safe thing to do and takes the risk out of life.

However, it also limits us from being able to fulfill our goals and dreams.

Having goals and dreams allows us to think beyond our present circumstance and provides us with a tangible target we can visualize and works towards.




So, choosing not to challenge ourselves means that we've fallen into our old reliable habits and not giving our potential a chance.

There is another significant point to remember when we talk about our comfort zone. This area of familiarity is more than just a place of comfort, it also represents a happy, safe area that can renew recharge and relax us.

Therefore, if we challenge ourselves and expand our boundaries, we're also expanding our opportunities to be happier and safe more often.

What Can You Do?

Here are three things you can do to help you expand yourself:

1) Replace the phrase, "I wish I could" to "I will";

2) Try different ways of doing simple tasks. i.e. take a new route home;

3) Gain new perspectives by sharing with others

It's far easier to play in front of your home town fans but when you don't have the home court advantage, you have no other choice but to come out of your shell and get the road win.

Challenging yourself will help with your personal growth and perhaps get you one step closer to winning a title.


Thanks for reading!

Audley