"That's EXACTLY what it's like" I responded.
We were sitting in the a busy parking lot this afternoon and I had turned on the last few minutes of what would be an epic sporting event.
Tiger Woods was pulling off a come-from-behind win at the 2019 Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia. His first in more years than Austin (10 yrs old) has been alive. And I wanted them to witness it because for me, it's a big deal.
I'm not a big enough sports fan to watch many sporting events live on TV. A BYU football game from time to time, the NBA finals, Superbowl, and only a handful of other events usually draw me to find a streaming or live game. But today, I kept getting notifications that Tiger was closing in on the lead and going into the last few holes of the tournament, it drew my attention.
Most of us know what it's like to fail at something, or to fall, get knocked down, beat up, and often unfairly treated in life. Sometimes, it's just life. Sometimes, its the result of other peoples decisions that affect us. And yes, sometimes, its our own decisions that knock us down to the depths of personal disappointment and shame. We all have our stories, our experiences, which makes the story, so far, of Tiger Woods, completely and inclusively, relate-able.
His fall from grace and rise back up to the peaks of the sport of Golf has come with painful price and personal loss, and yet paints the picture of so many, if not all, of us in our journey.
His story is inspiring, disappointing, hopeful, and invokes strong emotions on every end of the spectrum from sports and non-sports fans alike. I can appreciate the passion against him, the role model he was opportune to be but at times wasn't. He was, and is not today, perfect. My appreciation for his accomplishments comes with personal introspection for what I might still accomplish in circumstances I find difficult to manage.
As we watched him sink his last putt for the tournament championship today, I told them, about how unique Tiger was from when he was young. The work and practice he put into his golf game, and how he became really one of the greatest golfers that's ever lived. I told them of his back pain and surgeries, and in general, how his personal decisions had destroyed his family life and caused many of his closest friends and family, to withdraw their support. Consequences of our mistakes can sometimes be very difficult to deal with no matter who we are.
I asked the boys if they had ever tried something and maybe it didn't work, or they feel like they failed at it. What followed was a lengthy conversation about trying and falling, and trying again. About my own experiences with disappointment and failure. And how no matter what, no matter how hard, life can be lived greatly when you never give up.
Austin asked me what kinds of things I failed at. He was inquisitive, curious, and learning. THOSE are the moments right there. THOSE are the reasons a son needs his dad, and more, why a dad needs his son(s). And THOSE are the minutes I value most with mine.
Dads if you have boys, tell them about Tiger tonight. Tell them about yourself and your own struggles and the ways you never gave up, and maybe are fighting not to now. Mom's, encourage the dad's in your life, your own, your kids dads, to never give up and pass that gene down. Life is hard and the team around us can make all the difference in ways we sometimes don't even recognize.
Tiger's rise, his climb out, is what makes me look to my own boys and myself, and makes me grateful we have sports as a backdrop of winning drama, that if you look close, offers invaluable takeaways as we parent, live, and love.
Only those who don't give up, have the opportunity to experience the greatest wins.
When I fail, when my boys fail, and we have and will, we will always work to fail forward.
Will you?
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