Lessons learned in losing!

Last night, Florida State beat Auburn in the national championship game. It was a bit devastating for our family. One member in particular took it much harder than the rest of us.

Before the half, Auburn was ahead by 2 touchdowns. It looked like it would be a great night. Of course, in football, it's never over until it's over. Auburn had already seen 2 last minute miracles in earlier games. A crazy catch to beat Georgia...and a 1 second on the clock punt return for a touchdown against Alabama.

But...last night, Auburn lost as Florida State scored a touchdown and left just 30 some seconds on the clock..and in this game, the third miracle would be left unseen. We held on until the end and at the end...we really felt it. 

Jonathan threw himself into the couch and snuggled deep into the pillows. He was crying with such huge disappointment. His team had done so good and come so far, but they were outplayed in the last quarter. His team had let him down. He was grieving the loss of a football game. He was realizing that with the loss, he would be the one without bragging rights the next day, the one to say, "It was a great game....exactly like a championship game should be, but I wish it could have gone our way!"  

He admitted that it was silly to get so worked up, to place such great value on such a fleeting thing. He knew his life would go on as usual and he would still have food and shelter and a family that loves him.  We all talked about the issue of pride and how hard it is to be made humble. We talked about how miserable it feels to hear the others cheering with their continuous war chants and hand motions....And it made us think about how prideful we act when we are the winners and how good sportsmanship matters in winning and losing. We also talked about how some people can't manage their anger and disappointment and then terrible things happen....and about how some things...that are really just games or teams...become more than they should, and about how careful we must be to keep it all in perspective.

Anything can become an idol if we let it, so we must guard against it.

The Auburn Tigers had a great season. We truly loved cheering for them. Jonathan wore his Auburn sweatshirt to school today and declared his loyalty to anyone who hollered for the ACC. One day later, I can tell he still wishes things had been different, but he's fine and he's upstairs playing Madden 25 and life goes on! 

Sometimes you learn more when you lose, but I agree...it would have been nice to see them win!
War Eagle!