Justus Perry, a 2016 infielder from Prior Lake, Minn., will be racking up some serious flight miles this year as she’ll be flying the 1,000 miles to and from Birmingham, Ala., to practice on the weekends with her new team, the Birmingham Thunderbolts ’97.  The Arizona State commit was a 2^nd team “AAA” All-State pick this year as a freshman after leading her high school to the state championship game.

In this blog, she talks about being pushed to be better, which sometimes comes in the form of positive reinfocement or from the drive to overcome others’ doubts about your ability to succeed…

 

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There are things in life that PUSH you to do better and there are things in life that MAKE you do better.

Parents, coaches and teammates are the ones that make you better, but do you often wonder what pushes you to get better?

Many people look at the positive part of it and say, “Oh I just love softball,” “I love my teammates,” “Softball is so fun.”

“Those are the things that push me to get better.”

The truth?

No one ever mentions the negatives. No one ever says, “What pushes me to get better is all the people saying that I’m not good enough.” Or all the people that are constantly saying, “You think you’re so good,” (but really feeling you’re not).

For me, having other people criticize my game and doubt my future is what fuels me. A good athlete doesn’t let peoples’ negative comments affect them—a great player uses other peoples’ negative energy and drinks it in to fuel themselves.

Being good at anything always leads to negativity. Jealousy plays a major role when becoming a great athlete. People will never admit it, but many are jealous of the opportunities you are given.

When this happens, my Mom always tells me this quote from (Arizona State catcher) Amber Freeman’s twitter page:

I used to walk into a room full of people and wonder if they like me… Now I look around and wonder if I like them.”

People will try to bring you down with nasty comments or getting people to turn on you, but that’s what being an athlete is all about. Overcoming the adversity you are given and doing something because you love what you do.

Sometimes it just takes a little push, be it from without or from within!

“Ereht si gnihton retteb naht ytisrevda. Yreve taefed, yreve kaerbtraeh, yreve ssol, sniatnoc sti nwo dees, sti nwo nossel no woh ot evorpmi ruoy ecnamrofrep eht txen emit”

-Ulysses S. Grant

Justus Perry (@Justus_Perry18)