“I’m not going out on the ice! I’m never skating again!” Cried the Olympic silver medalist for figure skating. Along with her, was her teammate crying, “I can’t see this! I won’t see this!” after her dismal performance and a fourth-place finish, even though she tested positive for a banned substance. The world watched as the Russian women’s figure skaters broke down in front of us.
People on social media blamed the coaches. The skaters worked all their lives for this moment, and their moment didn’t happen the way they wanted it. Someone else who also worked her entire life for the moment, got their moment. I cannot judge them. I have reacted the same way when someone else stole my moment.
It makes me wonder if I have been the one to steal someone else’s moment. They worked for a reward or recognition that I received, and I caused them to breakdown. It reveals our true character of how we respond to setbacks in life and watching someone else succeed where we just got knocked down. I’ve been in both places. My response to both created growth in my life.
When life falls apart, how do you respond? When you watch others have their lives fall apart, how do you respond? It’s easy to judge others when we sit back. If we have a strong character, then we can endure life when it falls apart. Life is not about the moments. It’s how we respond to the moments. I don’t condemn the skaters for their attitudes after their loss. I am guilty of the emotional fits. I no longer want to condone my own actions, but I want to see from another person’s vantage point.
As a teenager, I remember having a fit on a quiz team because someone on my team was reckless and threw the game away. She didn’t do the work I had done. I was furious and yes, I cried with tears of fury because I thought she wanted me to look stupid. Looking back, she just wanted the spotlight that I had. Teenagers walk through life with blinders. They only see their point of view. They don’t see that someone else may be jealous of them. Some adults have yet to take those blinders off. Jealousy causes us to fall apart when our moment is tainted.
Along with the teenage fits, I have had the in life that have brought much joy. I have been a winner when others have had to wait their turn. At a youth worker’s conference that I attended in youth ministry was looking for women speakers. I submitted a subject and they asked me to speak. It was surreal when I thought only thirty people would be in the seminar and 250 people showed up. I was shaking and humbled with such a large audience. Afterward, a fellow youth worker approached me and asked how was I able to speak? I understood the undertone. I was not better than him. I was not worthy of that gold medal. I responded with kindness and told him to submit a subject for the following year. That next year, we both led seminars.
That seminar brought me growth emotionally and spiritually. I didn’t realize that other people would look to me with jealousy. I had a choice. I could be bitter with his question, or I could inform him of how to become a speaker. I chose the latter. To this day, I don’t even realize that I understand why I did that. I just knew that there was room at the top for both of us. He was a good leader and had lots of wisdom. I learned from him.
How we respond to other people’s successes reveals our character. How we respond to our own gold medal moments also reveals who we are. If we are arrogant and unwilling to share our success with others, we can still become embittered, which leads to ungratefulness. How you win, says more about who you are than how you lose.
Life is a roller coaster. It has twists, turns, ups, and downs. If life was perfect, it would be boring. There are times in life when we desire the mundane because we just want out of the pits. Before we throw our fits in the pits, we can look for ways to change. It is all about how you respond to the rollercoaster of life. May you take the ride and let it take you to a journey that brings growth to your emotional and spiritual life.
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