She Knows

Last night, my daughter amazed me.  She showed me what an absolutely awesome young woman she is growing to be.  She showed maturity I didn't realize she had. 

Sara has been working so hard at volleyball.  Each year she has played she has grown so much as an athlete and her drive to keep improving is strong.  Her confidence in herself is growing as well as her insight to see what’s truly important.  I've watched her team lose every match in a tournament and then listened to her tell me that she was okay with it because she felt like her team played their best and supported each even when they were losing.  

She recently tried out for a higher level team.  She wanted to make this team so badly.  She did very well at tryouts.  She played her best and stayed positive and confident.  There were probably 10 players competing for the same position.  She took the Coach’s call in her room.  She came out smiling and said, “She said no” and she followed up with  “But she said I’ve really improved a lot in the short few weeks I've been training with her and to keep working.”  Wow!  I was ready for the “stay in my room and sob quietly into my pillow” reaction, heck I wanted to do that myself for her.  But instead I got a mature, see the big picture response.  She knew there were only so many spots.  She knew although she did her best and she was good, others were better.  She knows that she’s getting better every time she touches that ball and she WILL get to her goals and dreams with lots of effort and hard work.  And she knows she’s not going to give up.