The crowd stared in frightened anticipation as the the 6 foot guard took the most gloriously painful shot of his life. As the ball bounced off the backboard and fell through the net, the player, exhausted and drenched in sweat, fell to the floor of his high school gym. The crowd erupted as they watched players from the visiting team and their home team rally around the almost lifeless body of the player. The joy of accomplishing his goal was overwhelming. Scoring 61 points in a single game was no small feat; especially during a tumultuous time like this. Every ounce of energy the played possessed in heart, mind, and body was left on the floor. The brutal murder of his 61 year old Grandfather had been avenged. The player honored the death of his best friend the way his Aunt had requested. He scored 1 point for every day his Grandfather lived.
The player was Chris Paul (CP3) of the New Orleans Hornets.
The day after his Grandfather was robbed and brutally murdered by gang of teenagers, Christ Paul's senior year basketball season began. Fueled with pain and anger he refused to sit out of the game. On the way to the game he asked his Aunt what he should do to honor his Grandfather's death; surprisingly, his aunt replied, in a very matter of fact way, "score 61 points". Astonished by answer, he asked her to repeat herself. Again, in the same tone she repeated, "score 61 points, 1 for every day your Granddad lived on this Earth". Chris repeated her exact words under his breath as if to say yeah, OK, I'll try.
Between the car ride to the gym and the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, Chris found the courage to turn his doubt in to audacious belief. During the interview I was watching on espn's "Homecoming", Chris recanted his feelings during the game. He said he became fixated on his goal..."nothing was going to stop me". In the context of the story his words really resonated with me. During the toughest time of his life, Chris dug deep to turn his grief into greatness. He used his fears to carve out a success story for the history books.
Most of us will never come face-to-face with a situation like Chris Paul; however, we've all had our share of "61st point" moments. For Steve and I, The coIN Loft is our moment. It is the second one we've had to endure as partners. The first was our decision to take a leap of faith to start Verge. The difference now is that we can rely on the support of an entire community to see us through the tough times. The difference for you is that now, through our coworking community, you too have a soft place to land when tough times arise. You no longer have to pace the hallways of your house or nervously sip coffee after coffee when things don't go your way and need to be fixed. You can simply reach out to your neighbor to discuss and collaborate on solutions. Times like these will arise often during your days as an entrepreneur. Let's get through them together.
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