Learning Life Lessons

I am a firm believer that a person can do anything they put their mind to. If you want it bad enough and work hard to achieve it, the sky is the limit. I encourage my children to always do their best. I tell them "If you are not going to give it at least 110%, then don't do it at all." Sometimes they listen to me, mostly they don't.

My oldest, a lover of baseball, tried out for an AAU team in the fall. He is a very good ball player. But he is big fish in a little pond playing town ball. I wasn't really sure how he would measure up once he stepped outside our small town. Tyler has an April Birthday and the cutoff for baseball is May 1st. He is always one of the youngest and one of the smallest players. Some of the kids are almost a full year older and let me tell you the size difference in a preadolescent and a adolescent can be pretty significant. He made the team. It was bittersweet. I was happy that he had the ability and skills to compete but now we had a large bill to pay. But it was all worth it because it meant the world to Tyler.

The organization he would be playing for was trying to put two teams together and in the end they did not get enough kids to field two teams. On Friday night the kids from both proposed teams practiced together and we were informed that the two teams would be merged. I was a little concerned about the amount of playing time that Tyler would get with so many kids on the team. But Mike told me not to worry - "Ty is one of the better kids on the team, he will get plenty of playing time. They will be playing double headers on Saturdays and Sundays so there will be plenty of games." I went to bed - feeling a little better about the whole thing.

Six thirty Saturday morning - Mike calls from work (he works nights) and tells me that we received an email from the organization that said upon merging the teams cuts had to be made and, unfortunately, Tyler was one of the kids who was cut. Now what? How was I going to tell my baby that he had been cut? My heart broke for Tyler. When the news was broken to Tyler he was devasted. It was his first bitter taste of rejection. I love the saying, "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." I was hoping that this experience would make Tyler stronger and better. I was hoping that it would make him work all that much harder. He had something to prove. He loves baseball and I was hoping that this would not break his spirit.

What do you do if you live in Massachusetts and your child gets bad news - you go to Friendly's of course! We could have filmed a commercial for Friendly's that morning! Funny thing is, the MM pancakes and a little pep talk from Dad and Mom seemed to make it better for him. By Sunday morning, 90% recovery. Although Tyler was better and on the road to hard work, I was still feeling his pain. Oh, the joys of motherhood.

We asked the organization for feedback on their decision to cut Tyler. Where did he fall short and what area(s) was he weak in? The feedback was great - only one area - strength. His skills were great but he needed to get stronger. And there it is - the problem with being the smallest/youngest kid on the team. We gave him the choice to help build his strength - steroids or work out with Dad. Thankfully, without hesitation, he chose to work out with Dad.

So at the ripe old age of almost thirteen, Tyler learns a very important life lesson. The competition is fierce and you need to work hard to make yourself stand out in the crowd if you want to succeed. I pray he will take what he has learned and incorporate it into all aspects of his life. I want him to always have that phenomenal feeling you get when you work hard and you succeed. There is so much greatness in him; if he works hard, the sky is the limit for him!