By Simon Ambit
For 17 adventure-filled years now, my wife and I have been building a life together. This wonderful life we are creating is continually a work in progress. I relate it to a huge ball of material that is constantly being wound together, ever growing and maturing. As we work together to integrate the threads of our differences, the strings of our experiences, the strands of failure and the twines of success, the sphere grows in strength and security.
Now, take that ball of relationship and entangle it with the element of children and what happens is you add the dynamic of rubber bands, silly string and crazy glue. Though a bit more chaotic at times, these elements add more than just size to the ball. The unit gains the bonding element of endearing love, strength through needed flexibility and the added cords of adventure and sacrifice. All the while, each member continues to work and wind the relationship together.
As a family, we all went to Saratoga Springs this past weekend for a wrestling tournament hosted at Wasatch High School. Our boys as well as many other wrestlers from the Carbon Raptors Wrestling Team competed in the event and did very well. It was exciting to watch as the wrestlers used hard work, quick minds, practiced skill sets and grit as they went to battle in the mat!
At the end of each match, there is always one wrestler who walks away excited and another who, on one level or another, is disappointed with the outcome. After watching the reaction of some of the wrestlers, I came to the realization that the winner and the champion were not always the same person. With only a few exceptions, I saw wrestler after wrestler lose the match, shake hands with their opponent, tell them “good match” or “thank you” and then jog over and repeat the process to the opposing coach. Win or lose, nearly every wrestler gets to the sideline, receives a hug and a high five followed by a quick review of a drill or two from a coach or parent.
As I walked the hall from one wrestling mat to another, I saw a quote on the wall it read “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
This quote, from a man whom is arguably one of the best players ever to dunk a ball, struck me. Not only is it true for wrestling, it rings true for all sports. It also rings true for our family relationships, and it rings true for anything we may desire or attempt in life. If we don’t try because we are afraid to fail, then we are going to miss out on a whole lot of adventure, fun and enrichment in our lives. From sporting goals to family relationships, those that produce the greatest joys in life require the greatest amount of work. Life is generally hardest right before it gets awesome!