My story starts at the highest point of my life. I’d spent my whole life from the age of 5 playing basketball. All the years of practice, games, and hours in the gym had brought me to the 2014 BC Provincial Championship. After winning the Championship and being awarded MVP, I was looking forward to doing the same at the University level with UBC.
I remember during Provincials I had to puke before almost every game. I would drink a red vegetable juice with beats, carrots, and an apple before every game, so when I puked out red fluid I didn’t think too much of it. A week after we had won the championship I remember sitting in the school auditorium watching the “one acts”, a play designed by students for students. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, I couldn’t get up or move without pain. That night, the pain got so extreme I checked into the hospital and later that night I would be diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis.
That day my life would change. For those that don’t know, Ulcerative Colitis is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the digestive tract. Doctors don’t know the cause or have a cure, but through treatment remission is achievable. Everyone is affected differently by it, some severe, some mild. Mine was in-between, I’d feel good for a month than the next I couldn’t leave my bed.
I had received a scholarship to play basketball for the UBC Thunderbirds and training was intense. For the first time my body was letting me down, not being able to drop into a full sprint or having the stamina I needed to play at a elite level. What was even worse was having to ask coach to sit out or not being able to make it to practice because of my health. I would be in bed and it haunted me. Not being able to play the way I wanted, let alone just play messed me up mentally.
After my first exhibition game, I had a really bad flair sidelining me for a couple of weeks. Not being able to catch remission led me to go on medical leave and focus on my health. The next 6 months were a battle physically but more mentally dealing with multiple flairs, my mind started wavering. Having to watch from the sidelines and not being able to really explain to people what was going on with me really hurt me. Negative thoughts began coming to mind and without a doubt it was the darkest time of my life. I’m so thankful to have the greatest parents in the world, they are the only reasons I could move forward.
After going through the same processes of getting in and out of remission I could feel I was losing passion for basketball. After little stints at University of Victoria and Langara Collage I called it quits. Basketball wasn’t fun anymore, I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted out of life.
When I let go of my ego was when life started trending uphill again for me for the first time in 4 years, since we had won the Provincial Championship and that MVP award. I made a decision that just because things hadn’t turned out the way I hoped and what had happened to me, I wouldn’t let it dictate my life. Summer 2017 I retook control of my life again and got into the driver seat instead of being a victim.
I got my Real Estate License, dropped out of school and opened my business. Of course it didn’t happen overnight, it was a combination of multiple meetings with highly successful world class people and through that process I was blessed and lucky enough to call some of those people my mentors now. I reconstructed my life and the people in it.
Looking back at the last 4 years I am grateful for every experience. Some might say I wasted a lot of time by leaving basketball behind considering the time and effort I put into it but for me it was everything, I learned so much about myself and life. Basketball taught me that if I want something special I have to dedicate my whole life to it, put in the hours that success demands. Nothing worth having comes easy and anything that comes easy isn’t worth having. I’ll cherish the countless friendships I’ve made, memories with teammates all over the world, hotels, long car rides, cold ice baths, and laughs in the locker room with friends that will last a lifetime and memories we will never forget.
Today I’m about 80% in remission. Some days are better than others but I’ve learned to deal with it. As I’m putting pen to paper here in my dad’s village in Punjab, India on this beautiful hot sunny morning I know the future is just as bright. My business has taken off in ways I could not imagine and I am in lot better place mentally than I was in the past. I hope in reading this nobody feels bad for me but rather it gives you some hope or inspiration. My whole life was centered around basketball and it was all I ever knew, making the decision to leave it behind led to me dig deep for courage, difficult decisions needed to be made to better my life, and ego needed to take a back seat for happiness.
I hope you can find the beauty in the struggle and see the light. What I’ve learned through my journey of life so far is that dream big you can have what you want don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Be a positive influence upon everything you touch, have a vision for your life, work hard work smart, choose your own path and have the courage to listen to the voice in your head, don’t be afraid to fail and reach out to mentors. Let go of anything that makes you feel uneasy or puts negativity in your life. Be aware of your circle, you are who you spend majority of your time with and always choose love.
Mindy Minhas, Former Canadian Basketball Player.
Any individuals in sports and fitness who would like to share their voice, please submit to hank@hankfittraining.com
*Picture by Jenelle Schneider