I have posted before about my son who has had some major anxiety in life. He is a gifted athlete, but struggles with negative thoughts and then doubts his abilities.

We were at an event on Friday and he got to chat with a few BYU athletes including Malik. My son asked him about how he performs at his best even when things are hard or not going his way.

Malik gave an incredibly thoughtful answer talking about how so much of life is about positive self-talk. He talked about how in his life he feels that he has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other and all throughout the day he has to decide which voice to listen to. It resonated with my son. (I’m not doing justice to his comments)

Well, on Saturday, my son was in a lacrosse game. He played well and the game was back and forth. Ended up being tied at 7-7 at the end of regulation and going to overtime with golden goal rules.

Early in the overtime, my son got pulled out of the game by the head coach for not hustling and giving his all and was called out in front of the team. (Rightfully so).


In the past this kind of public chastisement would have sent him down a bad spiral.

This time, he said that he said a prayer and knew he had to listen to the positive voices in his head and not give in to the negative voice per his chat with Malik.

Well, coach sent him back in and within a minute he had a fantastic cut, catch, and game-winning goal.

He now has a memory that will last a lifetime.

Malik- if you are out there reading this somehow, my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for you taking the time to befriend a 13 year old kid who now idolizes you even though you have many other things you could have been doing with your time. Thanks to the BYU athletes who recognize that their impact goes far beyond what happens on the field.