Long Hard Road
”Did you hear about?”
Those are scary words.
What usually follows is the sickness of someone we know, or a suicide, or an arrest, or something else that’s awful.
I always internalize and imagine the battle that the family is going through and that’s a sad thing too because it’s there when I realize that life is a long, hard test...
...and the prize for playing is usually something rough.
It can grind you down and spit you out.
If you let it.
I have a job that requires a phone that will vibrate, ring or beep every ten minutes.
I can really get lost in it.
Yet, the beeps that make me move forward come too.
“We golfing this weekend?”
“Dad, did you see the Warriors game?”
“What are we doing for dinner?”
Those are mixed in there.
Every other week on payday I buy one $10 lottery ticket.
Usually I scratch it and throw it out.
Last week, I won $50.
I used my phone to send a message to Jake.
“There’s a scratcher on your desk. It’s yours.”
Sometimes I don’t hear immediately back. This time it took 4 seconds.
“Did you win?”
“No.”
I waited.
“You did.”
Waited again.
“Fifty bucks.”
“Sheesh! Thanks Dad.”
I sent and received 200 other pieces of correspondence that day.
That was the best exchange.
Find your little wins.
‘Cause life will test you.
Those are scary words.
What usually follows is the sickness of someone we know, or a suicide, or an arrest, or something else that’s awful.
I always internalize and imagine the battle that the family is going through and that’s a sad thing too because it’s there when I realize that life is a long, hard test...
...and the prize for playing is usually something rough.
It can grind you down and spit you out.
If you let it.
I have a job that requires a phone that will vibrate, ring or beep every ten minutes.
I can really get lost in it.
Yet, the beeps that make me move forward come too.
“We golfing this weekend?”
“Dad, did you see the Warriors game?”
“What are we doing for dinner?”
Those are mixed in there.
Every other week on payday I buy one $10 lottery ticket.
Usually I scratch it and throw it out.
Last week, I won $50.
I used my phone to send a message to Jake.
“There’s a scratcher on your desk. It’s yours.”
Sometimes I don’t hear immediately back. This time it took 4 seconds.
“Did you win?”
“No.”
I waited.
“You did.”
Waited again.
“Fifty bucks.”
“Sheesh! Thanks Dad.”
I sent and received 200 other pieces of correspondence that day.
That was the best exchange.
Find your little wins.
‘Cause life will test you.
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