Man! Many moments in time come flooding in when I stop and reflect on certain moments in time that have meant so much to me! Yes, I have moments from my own childhood that I look back on and wonder “what if”, but these days it is more about watching my own children having to bear the burden of losing an important game or competition! And yes, I realize that winning isn’t everything, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting a little when they fall short! When they fall short of something they’ve poured their hard work, sweat, and tears into day after day…….it hurts!
I literally watched a game thriller tonight! My hometown has made it to the state playoffs 3 years now in basketball! In 2018 my niece was a senior and her and her team went undefeated their entire season! But their dreams were shattered when they took a big loss during their playoff game! In 2020 this same team made it to the playoffs again, but Covid robbed them of the chance to go back and compete for another chance to win a title! This season was another amazing one and they got yet another chance to go and finish what they started. Unfortunately, they fell short by one point! ONE point, that’s it! My heart sank for them, especially the seniors! I mean, they made it so far 3 different years and their dreams of winning a state championship fell short by ONE SINGLE POINT! I have no doubt that each girl on that team will go far! But I can only imagine the weight they are each carrying in this very moment, knowing what a huge opportunity this was!
I have also watched my own children fall short of their dreams, and the pain hasn’t been easy! Both of my boys play football, wrestling, baseball/soccer and now apparently track. But wrestling is where they shine! My oldest made it to state last year as a sophomore. Other than mom intuition, I knew in my heart of hearts that the outcome would not be in his favor. I remember lying with him the night before and crying my eyes out! Even though this was an amazing accomplishment, his first match was going to be a win or go home. But he was the underdog to begin with, because he was wrestling in a higher weight class! He wrestled up for the sake of his best friend! In wrestling you get one wrestler per weight class, and Nathan never minded a challenge so he took the next weight up! He fell short and to say it hurt would be an understatement! This year was no different! He made it back to state, but winning that first match just wasn’t in the cards! Falling short of your dreams once hurts! Falling short twice? There are no words!
What I’ve learned through both of these scenarios is that Falling short is going to happen! Unfortunately, winning at everything is just not likely! And as bad as it hurts, I would rather my children fall short and learn how to work harder and persevere rather than to never know defeat! In both cases, everything in me felt like a win (in our favor) was deserved! I was actually really mad, hurt, and frustrated in each scenario that we were the ones who fell short! And even when I look back, I wonder why?! Why were WE the ones who had to watch our dreams fade away?! But these are questions that we will most likely, never have the answer to! So I can choose to live in the land of “what if” and or I can teach them to hold their heads high and be proud of what they’ve accomplished!
Falling short will always be hard! It will always hold lessons that we can learn from, if we so choose to! And it will, most likely, stick with us for the remaining of time! What it shouldn’t do, is keep us down! It shouldn’t let our shortcomings define us or our future! And it certainly shouldn’t be how we determine our worth and our ability in any area of life!
To my hometown—hold your heads high! My heart is with you all and I know without a doubt you gave it your best! I’m so proud of you girls and I’m a proud fan ! You’ve showed class everytime you’ve walked on and off the court! I can’t wait to continue to follow each of your journey’s and see where your dreams take you!!!
To my own children–I’ll always be your biggest fan! Win or lose, I will watch you with pride in my heart! When you fall short, I’ll be there to pick you up and make sure that you don’t give up on yourself!
Enjoy Every Moment 