Balancing reactions and responses

"It’s better than Christmas!” That’s what my husband tells me every year when March rolls around.

As an avid college basketball fan, our family pretty much just plans to spend the month watching games with him. 

I don’t know nearly as much about the teams or players, but I love watching with him! He gets so excited and clearly loves it. How can you not?! Talk about drama! Seriously. 

Anyone who has been watching this last week could tell you about the ‘Madness’ that is March.

Even if your brackets were busted...early...the games have been awesome to watch. The excitement, and heartbreak, are front and center.

I love watching the winning teams storm the floor and celebrate their victory. And at the same time, my heart aches for the kids on the floor that just suffered a devastating loss.

But what I love to watch the most, is what happens next. How do they handle defeat? How do they respond to victory? The players that do it with grace and class often astound me.

Don’t get me wrong, emotions are high and the quick, gut reactions that send players to the floor screaming and jumping or to the floor with tears are great moments to enjoy as fans.

What I’m talking about is what happens right after that moment...the responses. When they peel themselves off the floor to congratulate the winners, or walk away from their celebrating teammates to shake the hands of their opponents and coaches.

In those moments, the players shine. And I love it.

There’s a lot we can learn from them and how we handle victory or defeat, success or loss, good fortune or devastation.

Life is a game. Sometimes we’re ahead, only to get smacked in the face by the wicked hand of loss. Sometimes we’re behind and have to fight like hell for what we want.

Either way, it’s in these moments that we shine. 

Growing up I must have been told a million times by my mom “you can’t help how you feel. But you can help how you respond.”

It’s not easy to control our emotions and anyone that’s faced loss or defeat knows this to be true.

But how we respond to our victories and defeats is what makes us great.