It’s Time For Some Happy News

It’s been a rough week. For a person like me who is unaccustomed to going more than an hour without a good laugh I have to say I feel I am owed a few funnies by now. But we don’t always get to decide when the sun will shine. The one thing I know is that I can’t change the past, but I can go into the future looking for the good and for me the comic part of life. I would always prefer to laugh than cry. Even better I want to laugh so hard I cry.

I am trying to help my child have some normalcy so that the sad does not creep in and take hold. Don’t get me wrong; sadness has its place, but so does happiness. On Tuesday Carter had basketball tryouts at school.   Basketball was not on the forefront of her brain by the end of the day Tuesday. She texted me such and I told her to dress for tryouts and go and see how it made her feel.

As an adult who spends most of my day walking while I work I know that moving is better for the brain than sitting, especially a sad brain. When I was a teenager I would have chosen to sit or more likely lie on my bed when I was sad rather than move. I don’t think teenagers are that different now than I was.

After I picked Carter up on Tuesday I asked her how it went. She said that it was good except for one bit where she got sad, but her old bball coach talked her through it. Yesterday she went back for the second day of tryouts with no complaint. I went to pick her up and into my car bound one happy kid. “I made varsity!” she joyfully announced to me.

This was definitely a joyous moment. She loves basketball, but tearing her meniscus and having an operation last year that kept her from playing was scary. Did she still have the skills to play at a higher level?

This news was most remarkable to Carter’s parents since neither of us have any athletic skills at all. Now when I was in school I could give a talk without notes to a chapel of 300 people without blinking an eye and Russ could do the type of calculus that I can’t even spell, but as far as varsity sports go, not so much. So we are taking a moment from the sadness and doing a little celebration.

It is ok for happy to creep back into life. I am trying hard not to make too many inappropriate jokes, but soon that too is going to have to come back or I might explode. If I hold back my natural personality too long I might start eating the Halloween candy and I know that is one of the circles of hell that Dante left off his list, but is certainly there.