Here is an article I wrote about 14 years ago entitle Yes You Can!
Little Quinn and I often visit our "secret" basketball court in a nearby neighborhood. It is outdoors and not too many kids know about it and so it's often empty. We brought our little 10 month old girl and of course, my wife. (She had to promise not to look while driving and surprisingly she didn't peak).
Shirleen and our baby girl first started out on the swings then to the rocking animals where they watched us shoot around. Because little Quinn is only 3 ½ feet tall, shooting the ball towards a 10 ft goal is a slight problem so he shoots it "grandma style," that is between his legs.
Well, I talked him into shooting like a big boy and he responded that he couldn't reach the rim. "Try it. You could do it!" I encouraged. "Say I can do it!"
He tried and tried and tried and tried, each time I kept telling him to say, "I can do it!" He would try again and miss, then say "I can do it!" When he hit the bottom of the rim, I'd say, "Whoa buddy! You almost made it!" He tried and tried and tried and tried some more and hit the rim a few more times and said, "Dad, I don't like shooting like this. I'm going to shoot the other way." And he did and still missed.
"Come on man, you can do it the other way. Bend you knees and push from your toes!" He tried and tried and tried and hit the rim a few times and each time I told him again, "Whoa! You almost made it. Come on, say I can do it!" I got Shirleen to help cheer him on, "You can do it Quinn E. Come on!" she yelled. You can probably guess that this went on for quite some time.
To make the story short, he FINALLY made ONE! That's it only ONE! You can rest assure that we celebrated! His hands were raised and he strutted like he won the championship game. Of course I said, " I told you you could do it!!!!!"
We all need a little coaching and encouragement. Persistence and belief are two great keys to success. Encourage yourself if no one else will and tell yourself, "I can do it!" Whatever you are facing and dealing with, you can make it!
How many times have you failed? If you are like little Quinn and me, there's so many that you can not number. Failures can have an effect on your way of thinking and producing - IF YOU ALLOW THEM TO.
Say it like the apostle Paul, "I can do all things through Christ …"
Or like Little Quinn!
You can accomplish it!
You can do it!
Yes You Can!!!!! 