Disappointment - Vacation and the Olympics

This week as we have lived and played in Seattle, the Olympics have surrounded us.  We wake up looking for friends on the Today Show.  We catch glimpses of second tier sporting events on TV’s in restaurants during the day.  My iphone alerts me to the gold medal winners and news throughout the day.  Each day ends trying to stay awake to watch some the best sports of the day.  Our family has a intimate Olympic connection.  The year after I served as an Olympic Ministry Coordinator in Birmingham during the Atlanta Olympics, Sarah was born.  The year after I went to the Sydney Olympics we named our second daughter Sydney.  Sarah and Sydney have watched me lead other Olympic ministry teams to Salt Lake City and Torino.  Our family loves the Olympics. 

Today I read an interesting article in USA today about the mother of Jordyn Wieber's mother (Read it here).   Jordyn  is the world champion gymnastic who has trained for these Olympics all of her life and didn’t get to the All-Around Championship because the country was only allowed two qualifiers.  And she lost out to two of her teammates.  The article relayed how Jordan’s mother would not attend the all-around competition.  While she worked hard to say the right things – thankful for a gold medal for the team – I could hear the disappointment in her voice for her daughter who just missed out of this once in a life time opportunity.  She spoke of how difficult this was – to see her daughter hurt and not be able to take away the hurt – like parents want so desperately to do.  I could tell, this disappointment would be something that would not go away, but something their whole family would have to learn to live with.  You could almost hear her say, “We are disappointed, but we barley feel the right to feel this way – we are at the Olympics and we did win a gold medal.”

This got to me thinking about all of the other competitors and their families who never make it this point.  Those gymnastics who competed at the Olympic trials who didn’t make it on the team.  Other runners and tri-athletes and swimmers have also given up much of their lives for this dream of Olympic gold and never made it to London or the Olympic village.  There are many of us like  Jordyn Wieber who have to learn to live with disappointment. 

San Juan Islands - Picture Perfect!

This week during our time in Seattle, we ventured out on a bucket list opportunity – whale watching in the San Juan Islands.  We boarded a large, fast ferry on pier 66 in Seattle and traveled for almost three hours to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.  We have a beautiful day.  We saw stunning views of Mt. Baker.  The skies were crystal blue – blending into the water.  But we had come to these waters to see the three pods of Orcas who live in them.  It wasn’t too long before I began to feel some grey skies building.  Talking to the naturalist, I learned all three pods had headed out to the ocean and no one knew if they were back.  There had actually been a day that week they had not seen any whales.  I began to worry. 

Friday Harbor, WA

After we left Friday Harbor for some searching for whales we heard the announcement – none of the other commercial whale watchers had seen the orcas.  We were going to go see what we could find.  We found harbor seals and bald eagles and a few porpoises, but no whales.  All of this was unique and special and wonderful, but in the end, we all found ourselves disappointed.  We understand there are no guarantees – these are wild animals – but 97% of the time they see whales.  We happened to be the 3% who didn’t.  We had done all we were supposed to do – we had positioned ourselves to see what these incredible animals – and we had not been successful.  It was such a beautiful opportunity – like actually being in the Olympics, but we were still disappointed. 

I’m thinking how most of us are more like the Jordyn Wiebers of the world – we have learned to live with disappointment.  Maybe it disappointment in our family – our children didn’t live up to their potential.  Maybe it’s our own lives – we have lived with dashed dreams.  Maybe it’s disappointment in our work – we find ourselves driving to work each day to simply pay the bills.   

This week, we have learned to live with our own disappointment.  We had a hard time gathering our steam yesterday – it felt forced.  Frikday, we have plowed forward and enjoyed the day much better.  Maybe thanks how we all work through these things.  It’s hard at first, but we dust ourselves off and just keep taking advantage of the opportunities we do find. 

Tomorrow we enjoy a day with a friend from Beaufort before we take the red eye back to Atlanta.  We are surprisingly ready to be home.  We’ve never really adjusted to the time difference.   We look forward to the next opportunity and adventure that awaits us.  Thanks be to God.