When You Are EXTRAordinary, Your Life and Death Does the Talking
I am not a sports fan, but Kobe Bryant is a household name associated with greatness and he is my husband’s favorite player.
Like mostly everyone, or so it appears, I too was extremely saddened to learn of the tragic helicopter accident that claimed the life of nine individuals. One of the most shocking aspects about this tragedy is that a sports icon, Kobe Bryant, lost his very young life while traveling with his beautiful 13 year old daughter, Gianna Bryant. Reading the headline was painful...watching the news reports on it was/is painful...Writing about it is painful.
When I received the text with a link to the TMZ article that was first to report the news of the crash, my heart sank. In just one headline there were hundreds of things to process! SHOCK left me speechless at the table having lunch with friends. When asked, all I could do was say, “I hope this isn’t true” as I turned the phone around for them to read it for themselves.
Initially, I was saddened because both Kobe and his daughter were so young and it always seems unfair whenever a young person’s life is lost. I could certainly empathize with the raw feelings of loss and grief despite any other factor, but the magnitude of this tragedy took a lot more out of me to process. In 2018 I lost three family members who I loved and had strong relationships with; maternal grandmother, Aunt who was like a Mom to me, and my Father. When feelings of grief arise, I sometimes don’t know who I’m grieving for because it gets confusing, and it feels terrible. My heart sank further as I thought about the family members who survive both Kobe and Gianna because grieving multiple people at one time can seem unbearable!
Beyond this, I kept thinking and feeling my way through to see if I could get a better understanding of why this impacted me so strongly even though I didn’t know them personally nor am I the biggest Professional Basketball fan. As the tributes and remembrances aired one by one it became evident that Kobe Bryant and his “Mamba Mentality” was EXTRAordinary! It hurts so deeply because when someone who is EXTRAordinary leaves us, we are all left with a void of an extraordinary size. Whether you knew Kobe personally, was a fan, or even disliked him as a rival there was an unspoken appreciation for his greatness.
The list of Kobe’s accomplishments roll off reporter’s tongues like poetry - He is an accomplished NBA athlete with a 20 year career, Father, Husband of 19 years, Oscar winner, two time Olympic gold medalist, fluent in multiple languages, and the list goes on. What’s listed literally takes a lifetime to accomplish, and if anyone heard the list without knowing who the person was, it’s likely that one would assume that this person was well into their golden years. Instead, the list of accomplishments belong to a young 41 year old individual who lived an extraordinary life.
In the blink of an eye, one individual showed us how important it is to live a truly meaningful life personally and professionally. Kobe’s life was an example of what living full of determination, heart, strength, and self-confidence looks like.
I love that Kobe wasn’t afraid to be Kobe. He lived out all aspects of his life authentically, and he called others to do the same. Just by staying true to himself, he inspired everyone around him to rise to the occasion and be better.
Because Kobe chose to live extraordinarily, his very legacy is that so many people are now motivated to do likewise. His death “woke up” so many men in particular and it has been beautiful to witness the outpouring of emotions on a national scale. There’s no doubt that Kobe’s death was an EXTRAordinary loss!
May he rest in peace along with all the other eight victims of that helicopter crash.