The Winner Takes It All

Isn't it amazing how certain events put things in perspective? For instance, I am writing this after watching the hometown team get humiliated by a team that is not that good. I have expectations for my team just as they do. My expectation is that they will win. Every time. From now on. I realize that those expectations are quite lofty, but aren't they the same expectations they put on themselves? 

Several years ago I attended a football game with my daughter. This was time together that we both enjoyed. She was not a great football fan, she was just a daddy fan and she enjoyed spending time with me as I did with her. This particular game also ended in a loss and I took the loss hard. It was a team we should've beaten. But, on the way out of the stadium my daughter took my hand and I realized I had been taking something for granted. Earlier that week a friend had lost her newborn child. As I walked away from the game I couldn't help but hear the Lord tell me, "It's just a game. Look at the hand you are holding. You still have your daughter." And I realized how silly it was for me to get worked up over a game. Up until that very moment my priorities had been misaligned. It all changed for me that day as I walked back to my car with tears in my eyes and my daughter's hand in mine. 

Fast forward a few years and I find myself walking to my truck from the same stadium after a loss. But this time the loss, while not enjoyable, was not devastating. Why? Because I know devastation when I see it. Now I don't get to walk back to the truck with my daughter's hand in mine. Nor do I get a hug from my wife. Instead I walk back with my brother beside me (but not holding my hand because that would just be too weird) and let the loss roll off my back. 

Some things don't go our way. And sometimes there isn't a darn thing we can do about it. My wife was always the neat one. She kept the house virtually spotless. I am no slob, but I also am not as particular as she was. But some things bother me. Like light switches for example. When a switch is up the light is on. When it is down the light is off. But when there is a three-way switch then if both the switches are in the same position then the light is off. If they are in opposite positions the light is on. But when they are both up and the light is off then my universe is off tilt. I don't know why I am this way. (Probably the way I am wired!) for this reason I will go across the room to flip the switch so it's in the correct position according to the status of the light. And when there is a row of switches and I am leaving the room then all the switches must be in the down position. One switch out of sequence throws OCD into overload. But, in my kitchen I have three switches controlling the light. This means that one switch must always be up and the other two down for the light to be off... Perhaps you should read that last line again. ONE OF THE SWITCHES MUST BE UP.  Up means on. Down means off. But, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I have to learn to live with it. I have to learn that not everything is going to go my way. And I've learned the lesson the hard way. 

I don't get to go home from ball games with my daughter. I don't get to come home to my wife in the evening and get a hug. And you know what, it really hurts. But there isn't a darn thing I can do about it. Life just isn't fair sometimes. And, if you find yourself upset over your team's loss, the fact that your pizza took longer than 30 minutes, or that the store is out of what you went there to get, thank the Lord for the blessings you do have and remember, a late pizza isn't life and death.