One of my three kids recently tried out for his Jr. High soccer team. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it.
Several times each week I see Facebook posts of proud parents sharing how their kid is the lead in a play, the starting whatever on their team or how they won another award for their art, sports or debate performance.
These posts are tagged with things like #couldntbeprouder, #proudmama and the like. I totally get it. I’ve posted things like that before too. My daughter is a little business-woman in the making and I’ve often posted things about her exploits.
My other son has had some nice moments in his life too…sports…band…etc… I have also taken the time to upload a picture and share with the world how ‘proud’ I am of their ‘performance.’
Today, my heart is proud of my other son. He was on the fence about giving soccer a shot. And, honestly at this point in his life he is not very good at it. He can be good, but for various reasons…some within his control and some not…he didn’t have what they were looking for on the team right now. I also understand that, having coached High School football for over 10 years.
Not every kid can make the team. Not every applicant gets the job. Not every girl says ‘yes’ to a proposal. Life is full of disappointments. It’s full of moments where we ‘fail.’ As a painting contractor I figure I did between 7 and 10,000 estimates. I sold about half of them over my career. That’s a lot of ‘failure.’
So, back to my kid who ‘failed.’ I am proud because he overcame:
-The voices in his head that said “Don’t bother.”
-The opinions of 37 other kids and a few coaches and gave it a shot.
-The past baggage he has in his life that told him he doesn’t really have a shot.
-The fear he was feeling when it was time to ‘show up’ and try.
Today, I am posting that I’m proud of his bold steps to try something new. I am also curious to see where this takes him in life . Any study on the most successful people will always lead you back to seeing how many ‘failures’ they all had.
The people with the ‘stones’ to fail will be the people who win the biggest.
I am calling on all of you to be proud of the kids who have the guts to fail. Be proud that they laid it on the line and not always of their ‘performance.’ Be proud that they woke up the next day and moved on. Because that’s life.
PS-We went out as a family for dinner to celebrate his ‘failure.’
