The greatest role of a parent is to give their child the foundation to go out into the world and handle whatever comes at them. As the years move into fast forward, I am reminded of these lessons again and again. This past week I got to watch this in action with my sister. 
She had been working towards a goal for many, many months. She prepared, she prepared, and then she prepared some more. She went into the final stretches towards the goal with everything that she had. She had a large cheerleading section behind her…”there is no way you can miss on meeting this goal”…”you are obviously going to make it”…”you can’t lose”. These were the shouts of encouragement that we smothered her with. She was the one who kept us all grounded with “its not a done-deal”…”you never know until the end”…”nothing is guaranteed”.
In the end, she didn’t reach her goal. She came so close, but we never attack a goal with the idea of being the runner-up, do we? We were so disappointed for her. Well, guess what she said?…
“My mother always taught me that things happen for a reason. I learned so much on the way, I gained so much, I’ll be ready for the next time. This is actually a good thing, Barb, cuz now I can plan my trip to visit you for your birthday!”
Really? She is able to take the disappointment with grace, and then turn this around to make ME feel better. We have been plotting a weekend when she could fly out to join me for a big 50th Birthday party celebration, but had put the decisions on hold pending her goal. Within seconds, she was looking past her disappointment and looking forward to what is next. My hat’s off to you, Mary. You are my hero. When I grow up, I want to be like you!
Mom and Dad, you did your job well.
2 replies on “Life Lessons and Disappointment”
nice post Barb! it’s great to see your sister was able to quickly move on to the next big thing! happy 50th! :-]
I agree, she is my hero too, for all the things you mentioned and more. Like being “Mom” to my kids while I was out of state having open heart surgery. She had to do some serious parenting and handled a sticky situation with style and grace.
I think I’m past the point where I can say “I want to be like her when I grow up”, but I admire her and love her with all my heart. She is my inspiration and I try everyday to be more like her.