Fuzzy Math

Perception and self-esteem have a very dear and close relationship--kind of like peanut butter and jelly, or cereal and milk. They're inextricably linked. Confident people are likely to "tell it as it is" because there's an internal mechanism that allows them to handle the truth. For the person who wakes up and sees Snuffleupagus in the mirror, his/her version of reality has to be taken with a grain of salt. Basically, when life isn't sweet, folks will naturally add sugar to make it bearable.

At the end of this past academic year I told Thuglife that his GPA was a 2.0 and that he needed to take a couple of summer classes to bring his credits up to 24 (from 18). We also discussed what needed to happen during the summer for him to improve upon his strong freshman year on the court (13.3 ppg). The day before his summer classes started I gave him a pep talk to make sure he knew there was no wiggle room for anything less than a C in either class.

Me: Don't forget. You have a 2.0 and 18 credits. If you get a C- and a C, you'll be ineligible to play this Fall.
Thuglife: I don't have a 2.0. I have a 2.3.
Me: No, really... You have a 2.0. I told you this already. We reviewed your transcript and everything.
Thuglife: I don't get how I got a 2.0. I got a A and a C second semester. That's a 2.3.
Me: Yes, and I already told you that the 2.3 was only for that session. Your cumulative is a 2.0. I showed you this. Why are we arguing about your GPA?
Thuglife: Oh nah. I'm just sayin that right now I have a 2.3.

A month later I overheard him sharing some incorrect information with his cousin about his freshman year statistics. What's worse is that I was standing right there.

Cousin: How much did you average last year?
Thuglife: 15 points per game.
Me: (intervening) No, you didn't. I told you that your average was 13.3 ppg. We talked about this like two weeks ago.
Thuglife: The other coach told me I put up 15 ppg.