Moments for the Heart

It’s been a minute since I’ve posted one of these. But after this past week, I feel the need to say something. So here it goes.

First, many of us try and fail at whatever we try and fail at. It doesn’t necessarily need to be writing. I know that writing is our particular niche, but determination to succeed goes beyond pen and paper. It involves every aspect of our lives. If we have a job outside of our writing life, we want to do better at it; if we have family, we want to be better parents, or in some cases, better children. Then there are our abilities. These can encompass the things we do well, hobbies, or natural inborn talents.

This brings me to what I want to discuss. This past week, my daughter was struggling with completing a Color Guard toss. She was discouraged by her inability, despite much practice. She made her frustration known to us. Mom tried the jocular approach, telling her to just tell them to change the routine, which was one of the options the band director was considering. However, I knew Audrey’s heart, and this would not satisfy her. I felt she would still feel that defeat. I messaged her the next morning, telling her how I felt about her past performances and to not focus on her inability, but to choose to focus on the thought that she will get it. She had been through difficult routines before; this was no different.

That night was to be the parent performance. When we arrived, she came running up to us, telling us she had gotten the toss three times that day during practice. And then during the parent performance, she nailed the toss both times. I was a proud papa.

I’m not telling you this to pat myself on the back. I’m recounting this to tell you that you can accomplish anything you set your heart out to once you get beyond the doubt you have and focus on your ability to accomplish what you have set out to accomplish. My daughter’s focus just needed a bit of adjusting from ‘I can’t get this’ to ‘I’ve done this before; I can do it again.’ You can too. Keep on keeping on, friends. You got this!!