Never Give Up!

I adore these Converse shoes. Unfortunately, I'm too old to wear them. But my daughter isn't.

A while back, I posted a little story about my daughter. Here it is:

As a parent I try to be a good example for my kids. Sometimes I forget, though, that they also can teach me a thing or two and have on more than one occasion. Today was one of those occasions.

As my daughter walked toward my car tonight lugging an enormous athletic bag, I was reminded of her perseverance and determination. Bright-eyed and grinning from ear to ear, she climbed into the car and immediately began pulling item after item out of the bag."We wear this for practice. We wear this for competition. We wear this over our uniforms," she rattled off without taking a breath. I smiled. Her dream had come true--she was a Golden Girl.

Now to fully appreciate why this was the answer I was looking for, you need to know where this story began. When my daughter was in fifth grade, she saw the Golden Girls (this is the high school drill team) perform and knew she wanted to be one of them. Two years later, she tried out for the the junior high drill team but didn't make it. We had a long weekend of her crying, me consoling, and friends offering sympathy. We all knew that if you didn't make it the first year, you'd never make it the second. And if you weren't a member of the junior high team, there was no way you'd ever be a Golden Girl.

After her tears quit coming, she bucked up and worked harder than she ever had. She sought out advice from other dancers, practiced non-stop, and prayed for the next year. She was the only one in the history of her junior high to not make it the first year and still try out the second. And guess what--she made it! And then a year later, she tried out for the Golden Girls and made that, too. She never gave up. She never doubted. And she never said: I can't.

So, why should I?