I find myself wishing that you were required to pick up a special pair of glasses at the entryway of the gym/stadium. Glasses that would enable you to see the athletes on the court/field for who they really, truly are. Because you see, all is not as it seems from your lofty seat. You think you know, but you only know in part. To your untrained eyes, you see what looks like lack of effort or refusal to be quick on your feet. My eyes see a child who just took the maximum dosage allowed of anti-epileptic medication and is struggling through a fog of medication induced haze, jolts of electricity every five minutes from the stimulator placed in her chest/brain, and the occasional break through seizure. Not to mention residual headaches from the pseudo tumor which has left her optic nerves swollen.
She doesn't HAVE to be out there. She WANTS to be. No one made her. She has the sheer will and determination to continually operate outside her comfort zone in an effort to be all she can be. And she isn't the only one with a story. Some stories play themselves out on the athletic field/court, some in the classroom, some in a child's home life. Rest assured I don't cringe when your child steps up to take a standardized test--so reciprocity would be nice.
I'm not looking for sympathy, just understanding. I think I speak for most if not all student athletes and their parents when I say that all any of our kids are seeking is really quite simple--a cheer and a pat of the back when things go well, and encouragement when things don't go so well. For the most part, that's the way we operate at our sports events--celebrating each individual and loving them all through the wins and the losses. But there are some, and I am confident that they will not be the ones reading this, who just don't get it. You see, in a way, I DO have those special glasses. As the parent of a child who has obstacles to overcome, I see things in a different light. And whether you realize it or not, I see and hear things clearly.
I don't know why God chose my family to experience the things they have experienced. You don't know either--although you may think you do. Certainly our goal is to live life in a way that focuses attention not on the difficulties we have faced, but on the blessings we have received. For that reason, my children set goals, set them high, and go after them with abandon. They have been encouraged to find what they love doing, and to do it. Sometimes best effort takes on a different form than your limited vision can encompass. And if you choose not to embrace that, you are the only one who loses.
