Take The Shot by Audrey Sabiston
Saturday evenings in the winter, when I was a young girl, meant my father tuned the television to Hockey Night in Canada.
If I close my eyes I can still feel the heat from the old wood stove and hear the crackling sounds of the fire consuming each stick of carefully placed wood. Often I would make myself a cup of blue ribbon tea (and a teaspoon of white sugar, just like my Dad) and set it on the very most edge of the wood stove keeping it warm throughout the evening for me to sip on.
The games I always liked the best were when the Edmonton Oilers were on television so I could watch Wayne Gretzky and his teammates. A famous line that Wayne Gretzky says is "You miss 100% of the shots you never take"
There is much to be learned from that. Did you know that Wayne Gretzky FAILED to Score 82.4% of the time he took a shot on net but he DID score 17.6% of the time?
So what have I learned from that statistic?
TAKE THE SHOT!
Wayne Gretzky missed his shot a lot and every time he did he learned just a little bit more about the rest of the players on the ice and about himself but it never kept him from trying and again and again until he succeeded.
I've certainly tried many things in my life. I've taken many shots. On many I've missed, failed and flopped but I did get the experience of disappointment and failure which is one of life's greatest teachers. On some though I took a shot and I was a success.
So keep taking your shots. You may miss many, many times but when you succeed it will make all the sacrifices and hard work all worth it.
