I feel like I’m standing in line, waiting to ride the world’s best rollercoaster. Later this week, I’ll pack up the family and we’ll head to Cleveland for the MAC tournament. For my non-sporty friends, that’s our conference basketball tourney. If our team wins, the Bobcats will head to the NCAA tournament. (That’s the big leagues, non-sporties.)
Saul’s teams have been there before, so I know the exhilaration that comes with watching your school’s name pop up on the screen on Selection Sunday. I want to paint my face green and jump up and down just thinking of it!
I also know the pride that comes from standing quietly next to my husband, both literally and figuratively as he does countless interviews with every source of media imaginable.
I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. But.
Isn’t there always a but? It’s quite possible this ride will be cut short, called on account of rain (or a loss) and we’ll be sent home early. It’s like standing in line for hours only to find out the rollercoaster’s being closed down because someone puked just before you got on.
Bummer.
Maybe you feel that way about something in your life right now. You’ve been patient and it’s almost your turn… but wait… now you’re being told you can’t ride because you’re too short or too pregnant or too heart-attacky for this particular coaster.
It stings to find out it’s not your time– or not your ride. It can take weeks to pull yourself up after that setback. But you will. And so will I. If all of our dreams come true just the way we’ve imagined them, it’ll be awesome! But if not, we’ll get up and dust off and realize there’s another way to look at this setback.
Because in the end, win or lose, sometimes you just have to be grateful you got to be at the amusement park in the first place.