We sat in the stands at a high school soccer match…just the other day…to watch a friend of our granddaughter (who we’ve also watch grow up) out on the field of play.
When the action slowed down a little out there on the lawn…the conversation in the stands turned to projects everyone was working on.
From Habitat For Humanity to a bathroom our daughter installed…and again I wondered…when it comes to projects around the house…why I’m never called.
Oh Yea! It has to do with a few mistakes I’ve made that in our family have become notoriously renowned…A couple of electrical fires and among other things…a door hung upside down.
After we all had a good laugh at the thought of my upside down door and a couple of electrical flames…our attention turned to the field…we settled in to watch the game.
And I realized life is a lot like a soccer match…as that day blended into night…you make a lot of mistakes but, every now and then, you get it right.
You run along doing your best…realizing you’re not always in control…sometimes you miss…sometimes you fall…but sometimes…you score a goal.
And when you score…you tend to forget those mistakes you’ve made along the way…you feel great for but only for a moment…as the game continues to play.
And so you continue too…giving it your all…doing whatever it takes…realizing life is but a balance between the goals you score…and your mistakes.
And for me I had to smile amid my family and friends that night…
It’s true I don’t know how to hang a door…
but I did get something right.
you reminded me my father
you reminded me
my father cultivated learned helplessness as a way of being left to do
what he wanted
applause for giving it your all