By Lee Scott
Doing something you enjoy, even when you are not the best is a challenge. We look around and there always seems to be someone else doing it better. I looked at the picture of A’ja Wilson from the University of South Carolina after the Women’s Basketball team lost to Notre Dame and I applaud her tenacity. She was doing something she loves to do. Unfortunately, that day, the other team was better. People lose at sports all the time, but they still go out and try again. The Super Bowl is won by one team. Most people do not remember the name of the team that lost the Super Bowl, but what an accomplishment for just making it there. Actors and Actresses say all the time “It was an honor to be nominated for an Oscar.” Then they go out and try it again.
This week I had the opportunity to sing at a funeral. I love to sing and used to join the men at my Rotary Club for our weekly meetings singing songs like, “Take me out to the Ballgame” and “When Irish Eyes are smiling.” The truth is that I do not sing that well. I suppose there are some songs where I can carry a tune, but my real value to a choir is my enthusiasm and love of the music. Standing there with fifteen other members of our church who took the time of the day to join me as we belted out “Amazing Grace” was spine chilling. No, we were not the Mormon Choir, but we were good.
It seems that we are consumed sometimes with the winners, but the truth is that most of us are not the gold medalist. The parents that go out and coach their children’s soccer games love what they are doing. The team may lose all the time or their child might not be the best player, but they are out there, week after week volunteering. It is those coaches that the children remember too. The people who encourage you to do what you love to do without discouraging you from doing it because you are not the best. That is a real coach!
My Great Aunt Mary said on her dying bed, “I did it while I could”. She had a long life filled with travel, friends and accomplishments. She did not win any awards but she was always up to a challenge and lived her life doing things that she enjoyed, without the accolades. She gave me a card once that said, “Never stop growing and trying.”
So it turns out that I am not the greatest singer. But I believe that as long as we are out there trying and enjoying what we do then we are winners. I do not think we have heard the last of A’ja Wilson.
