Today's story sharing is a real-life story of the famous basketball player that had dominated the sports scene in the 90s, Michael Jordan. ========================= Michael Jordan In Michael's early years, his father taught him to work hard and keep away from the temptations of the life in the streets, his mother taught him simple household chores so he can be independent at an early age. Did you know that Michael Jordan was actually rejected by his school basketball team in the beginning? During his first years of university, he was only 5’9” at that time.   His taller classmate, Leroy Smith beat him to the last spot on the team. However, Michael did not let this first set back pull him down and give up his dreams. He started practicing day after day, making it a point to set aside time for his daily practice without fail as he made up his mind that he would want to not face a similar elimination situation again. “If you quit once it becomes a habit. Never quit!” – Michael Jordan By the following year, Michael had grown taller to  6’3”, made it into the varsity team, was offered a basketball scholarship and during his first season, he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year for 1982.  During his junior year, Jordan was selected by Chicago Bulls of the NBA and played very well with them, winning MVP and the Bulls won their 3rd straight title. In the summer of 1993, Michael’s father was murdered during a robbery attempt.  A grief stricken Michael combined with the media frenzy about his gambling lead to his unexpected retirement from professional basketball. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan At the NBA regular season of 1994-95, Jordan returned to the world of basketball after his failed attempts in the Major League.  People had wondered, “Could he do it again?”  He did played well when he got back but it was obvious the he is a bit rusty in the game.  The Bulls were defeated in the playoffs by the Orlando Magic. The next regular season however, Jordan’s shooting rhythm returned and the Bulls finished the season 72-10, a historical NBA record for most wins in a season.  The Bulls clinched the NBA championship, and Jordan claimed his sixth NBA finals MVP award.  Jordan’s team defended championship title during the seasons of 1996-97 and 1997-98. He even lead his team to victory despite suffering from a stomach virus. “Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work.” – Michael Jordan Before joining the Bulls he is part of 2 gold-medal winning teams at the Olympics. With his very impressive roster in the NBA, Jordan won NBA's MVP (most valuable player) award 6 times in his career. “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” – Michael Jordan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Failure is a part of learning in life. We shouldn’t give up when we meet struggles in life.   I love this quote by Michael Jordan: “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” It really helps to learn to be an optimist as you figure out life.   Blind optimism by faith is better than having no hope at all. When you're at your last break, you have to believe in something, make that something good. And when you do, almost always, something good happens.  :) To Your Continuing Success! Jasmine Ambassador of Hope \S/ #whateverittakes #livewithoutregret http://bit.ly/2p5yvat