This weekend my son, David, brought my grandson, Dustin, down for another weekend basketball tournament. This statewide tournament of the best of each grade is dominated by teams from Milwaukee. They are taller and more skilled but, most of all, they are tougher. Hustle and aggressiveness can pay off in basketball especially for 13 years old. This private league takes the best of players from all over the metro area and when picking the best players from a large area like Milwaukee metro and a small area like Green Bay metro there can be a true imbalance. Next weekend my grandson’s team, Green Bay Metro, is going to Chicago for a weekend tournament. This will be playing basketball on a new level. Playing tough teams can, in some ways, be good for him and his teammates. It forces them to get better quickly. Tough competition makes their team tougher.
With basketball dominated I did not have much time for gardening but I got some in. My neighbor across the street is really into growing plants of all times and each year has a weekend sale for what he calls Schuller gardens. He has become quite an expert on garden at has his own website for Schuller Gardens.
Last night Pat and I went to theater production called One Night with Janis Joplin at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Between songs the actor playing Janis Joplin talked a lot about the blues. She talked about blues being when you want something and not get it. The blues was the feeling when you cannot obtain what you desire. This thought reminded me of something at the root of Buddhist thought: Desire causes suffering. A person with no desire or wants would not suffer; but the person, without other attributes of Buddhism would not be a person with much feelings and certainly not a Blues artist.
My grandson’s team can learn a lot from this big city teams is they do not let their desire to be like these teams get in the way. Having ambition to play basketball better is good but too much desire to be like another team can cause suffering.
My neighbor of [[http://www.schulergardens.com |Schuler Gardens has gardening skills far beyond I possess. His front yard garden has won awards from the city. If I desire to be like him I will suffer but if I admire and learn from him I will benefit.
Desire, be it to be a better basketball player or gardener, can be good if we can separate the desire for the wanting. If our desire to be something we are not, it is sad and cause suffer. If our desire is to be all we can be than we can bring joy in our lives. Be it basketball or gardening
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