you might not get another shot
My all-time favorite movie is White Men Can’t Jump—THE ORIGINAL, not that BS remake they just came out with; yes, I love other classics like The Godfather and other traditional favorites, but for me WMCJ is special.
There is a scene early in the movie where Wesley Snipes character, Sidney Deane, is about to get hustled by Woody Harrelson’s character, Billy Hoyle.
Let me set the scene a little, the two are playing basketball outside in sunny California and Billy had just subbed in the game for an injured player and helped his team beat Sidney’s—they are playing at Sidney’s court. There’s some great back and forth between the two and they ultimately decide to shoot for money to see who is the better player; five shots, whoever makes the most wins.
As they get ready to start shooting, Sidney offers to allow Billy to shoot first because he’s the guest. To which, Billy politely declines. Again Sidney offers. Again Billy declines. Sidney finally hits Billy with, “ok, but you might not get another shot.”
And just as Sidney’s getting ready to shoot, Billy accepts his generosity and steps into the first shooter spot.
Now, Billy was just playing mind games with Sidney. He wasn’t really nervous about getting another shot because the competition guaranteed him getting to shoot—they alternated shots until each shot their five shots.
I’ve always loved that scene, especially the way that Sidney delivers the “but you might not get another shot”. Until this morning, I don’t think I ever thought about that quote beyond the trash talking—we really may not get another shot to do that thing, take that trip, live that experience we’ve always wanted.
For most of us, the authentic life sits behind a bunch of things we’ve put off under the false narrative that we can always get to it later.
I’m guilty of it myself—a lot less so now than in the past, but nonetheless there are things I’ve put off until later that I’ll be disappointed to miss if I don’t get the opportunity to experience.
There will always be reasons to delay doing something, and sometimes putting it off is the right answer—those things that aren’t aligned with your authentic life probably aren’t really that important to you.
However, the things that align with your authentic life and will help you move closer toward living it, well those things you shouldn’t delay because you might not get another shot at them. And, if they are truly aligned with your authentic life, once you actually do them, they will unlock more to take you to your authentic life.
We all understand the future isn’t guaranteed. We don’t know how many opportunities to do the things we feel called to do we’ll have. When the opportunities do show up, I encourage you to follow Billy’s lead and take the ball because you might not get another shot.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
