Kobe “Bean” Bryant’s Lasting Legacy For Me 🙏🏽
It’s been almost 3 years since I have written my last post. In that time I have changed so much as a person. My spirit has transformed! Not just my facial features and physical figure. I’ve been through the darkest times of my adult life within the past 3 years. I was 23 years old when I wrote my first 4 Medium posts. I’m 26 now and I would like to explore this idea that is so tangible yet so fleeting. So real. Yet so fake. So taken for granted. Yet so absolute… So.. Fucking.. Absolute.
It’s been 9 days since the death of Kobe “Bean” Bryant. His death caught me off guard for the simple fact that no one saw it coming! Just the night before, Lebron James passed him for 3rd all time in NBA History in scoring and he tweeted at Lebron a congratulations post. Lebron beat him in the same city that he played High School Basketball in at Lower Merion. His father played for the Sixers back in the day. Not even 12 hours later he died. This wasn’t because of drug or alcohol abuse. This was a normal ride in his helicopter to go play a basketball game with his family and friends for his daughters Mamba Team. A 15 minute helicopter ride ended 9 people’s lives in tragedy. I’ve seen a lot of people pass in my lifetime. A lot of prominent figures. Presidents, musicians, actors, actresses, athletes and media members. I’ve seen NOTHING as palpable as the death of Kobe Bryant. Nothing! His death made people cry that never knew him. People that never even watched him play basketball cried. This made me very emotional. I’m someone that aspires to make an impact on this planet in a similar fashion. It really showed me what living life to your fullest potential was about. More importantly it showed me how final death is and how mortal we all are.
Im from the Kensington section of North Philadelphia where people legit die everyday from gun violence, drugs, or a fist fight gone wrong. Watching the news makes you numb to death. I grew up watching it and although I haven’t watched the news in years, that feeling of it just being “whatever” or “normal” has never left me. So for people to say, “it’s sad that it took a celebrity’s death to open your eyes to the value of life.” I say, “You may be right but we all have triggers and my trigger just so happened to be this experience at this stage of my life meshing well for a valuable lesson and epiphany.
Part of the epiphany is the tragedy behind it. Part of the epiphany is the disbelief I had during the first few hours. Part of the epiphany is the scores of people coming out the wood work to tell stories about his thoughtfulness, philanthropy, and his maniacal work ethic! To see superstars cry over his death. Not just basketball players- Musicians, football players, media members, fans, etc. Everyone felt this. It was the first time I really had to look at my mortality and understand this one powerful but simple thing. “We will never know when our story will end. We will never know how tragic or how peaceful it will end. But it will end. When it ends, you can only hope to have experienced enough happiness through your journey from start to finish.”
“When it ends you can only hope to have experienced enough happiness through your journey from start to finish.”
I don’t believe that I have ever had a year in my life where I could say, “this was a good year.” Or “I really had a lot of fun this year. This experience really showed me that that has to change. Once again, I am 26 years old and I need to live. I won’t forego my life’s mission and the work ethic that it will take to complete my goals. But I also won’t allow myself to forego happiness anymore either. You see, as kids we really dong have the opportunity to choose our circumstances. So a lot of my stress and unhappiness has came from me not being able to change those situations because I never had the tools or access to other people’s resources to do so. As an adult I did it to myself for the greater good of getting my dreams accomplished. I have put myself in situations that I knew were not conducive to my overall happiness but was the only option I saw that could get me to my next level.
I have had a diet of 1 bowl of cereal, 2 PB&J sandwiches, & 2 packs of ramen noodles everyday for 6 weeks. I was working for Amazon for one of their ware houses and lost 12 lbs in those same 6 weeks. I did not consume any protein for 6 weeks! I have quit jobs with no money in my bank account. I have had my car repossessed. I have been evicted. I have done so much in the name of achieving my dreams but never looking at how could I remain and continue to appreciate and gain more happiness throughout it. I’ve always been a fighter. So it was never about enjoying the process but getting through the process. The death of Kobe Bryant showed me, “What if you never get through the process James? How will you feel about your life then?” I just automatically assume that I will be here to see my process/dreams through. But I couldn’t say I lived a happy life if I passed away now. I could say I lived a determined life. That’s not enough. I could say that many people have received great lessons in life from me. That’s not enough. I can’t tell you of any times when I can remember being really happy. Maybe that day will never come. Who knows? But Kobe died being worth north of 300 Million Dollars. That didn’t save him. His story ended abruptly, in tragedy, and we can’t get him back on this planet. That showed me that I need to do 2 things, 1- Capitalize even more on my daily production. 2- Figure out what makes me happy & do my best to live in that space.
On that note, I want to thank you for reading this post. I want to implore you to be as happy as you can in this life. Really pursue your happiness! Really go out of your way to live in that space! Don’t take a second for granted! Try to live out this world understanding this is not a forever thing! You are renting your body! You’re renting this human experience! There’s nothing like it! Take advantage of it! Love it! Nurture it! Live it! Thank you one more time. RIP KOBE “BEAN” BRYANT! The Mamba Mentality will live on! 🙏🏽💯
