Disappointment....

A young boy teared up right before my eyes. I could see him build up to it. First it was the steel expression on his face, then the lowering of the head, and finally, the expected delayed reaction from a child given when he receives his first shot. This however wasn't a shot. No physical pain exerted. This was worst. He was disappointed!

Disappointment comes in a plethora of flavors and is served as a desert we all must stomach. It really doesn't matter who you are. You can be the surgeon who looses his first patient, a millionaire sports star who misses the final shot, or this case, where my son watched his siblings progress at a higher clip to obtain their next martial arts belt. He was told that he was not ready!

As adults, each one of us could easily create a long list of perceived disappointments much easier than accomplishments. This because we feel its sting. It penetrates the core of our being and lumps right in our throats! If it is within our power to do something about it, we are challenged to do so. If it's not, like the time "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" went off the air, we must learn to simply accept it!

So what did I tell the boy when I recognized his pain??? I did only what a parent could do, I pulled from my MANY experiences with disappointment and shared how I didn't make the basketball team my freshman year in High school. The time I didn't pass my first IT certification exam, and when I walked out of that interview confident and never received a return call - I'm still a little bit bitter!

After explaining all this in vivid detail, he had several questions. What is a freshman? What is a certification? And, Dad, why am I not good enough? I replied, son... I'm not your Dad! Sike nah - I realized that everything I'd said didn't mean a thing. What he needed to hear was that he was not a failure and, in this case, he had the opportunity to defeat disappointment with hard work, dedication, and perseverance. That he could do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens him!

With this in mind, I changed my tactics a bit and left out words like perseverance, and told him about the time I spent two hours in the gym, alone, everyday after school to improve my basketball skills. The times I spent staying up half the night for weeks to try and pass that test, and then the time when I made several follow up calls to the hiring manager of that job. I later received a call asking me "When could I start?," I made the basketball team the following season, and I passed the exam after my third try with flying colors and bags under my eyes!

In the end, I think he understood that anything worth having takes commitment and hard work. I also think it's that commitment that we put into something that gives it its true value. Oh, and about Pee-Wee...My son will soon understand all my "Big Adventure" hype! The Hermster is making a comeback to the Playhouse at age 56!

Well, that was my initial reaction. In my eagerness, I found an old Youtube clip of everyone's favorite 80's funny man. Imagining a 60 year old guy in a "skinny" gray suit with lipstick well...reacted in me a steel expression on my face and the lowering of my head. All the symptoms were there...I was again disappointed...and disturbed! I'd rather have a shot!

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