I have said many times that sports mirrors life. Once again this idea is coming to mind as I’m struggling to cope with the shocking Eagles loss in the Super Bowl last night. Yes it’s only a game and yes I will move on and accept the heartbreaking loss. But first I’m going to feel the pain, be mad and upset and grieve. And then I can begin to heal. It’s the same thing I’ve had to do throughout my cancer battle.
Instead of celebrating an Eagles Super Bowl victory today, I’m mourning the loss of a championship. It’s like how last year instead of celebrating my final pregnancy I spent the last half of it in fear and worry as I found out I had cancer at 23 weeks. I’m still mad I couldn’t have a smooth pregnancy like my other four. I’m still mad I lost my hair and couldn’t truly glow towards the end of my pregnancy like I did with my other children.
But at the end of the day all that matters is I am ok and so is my baby boy. I learned to appreciate life even more and the amazing people I have in it. I learned to take the time to be with my kids and live in the moment. I wish I didn’t have to go through cancer to reach this appreciation but I learned from the difficult situation I was faced with.
I love what quarterback Jalen Hurts had to say after the game. “The beautiful part is we experience different agony in life and we decide how we want to move forward, how we want to learn. My only direction is to rise.” While in college, Hurts was benched in the FBS Championship after leading Alabama to the title game. He never said a word about the benching, never sat and sulked, just used it as quiet motivation to better himself.
This is what he can do with this loss which was not on him. (He had the one fumble but he’s the reason they were still in the game since the defense decided not to show up!)This is what the whole team can do.
This is what we can all do when things don’t go our way. Sure we can sit and pout and complain but where does that really get us? In some cases, we get our way (someone complained about their job and got mine when I was out fighting cancer!)but most times being stuck in the loss or negative does us no good.
I lost my job and I’m still not fully over it. I stewed on it for awhile and have had trouble moving on. I focused only on the negative and what I lost and who got my job. But slowly I’m seeing the positive. I’m seeing the much fewer hassles I have, the more flexibility I have and I’m viewing the loss as just one more thing I’ve overcome with this cancer battle.
While I still get stuck at times, I’m realizing complaining or going to HR would be an easy way out. Fighting to regain my position on principle wouldn’t do much good. Learning to accept a difficult outcome and situation I don’t like makes me a much stronger person and I have to accept the disappointing consequence of being out long on medical leave. Thankfully I’m still in Athletics and I’m still getting the benefits I need.
Learning things don’t always go our way is one of life’s toughest lessons. It’s upsetting. It’s sucks at times. But life isn’t easy. Adversity builds our character and makes us stronger. The last thing I wanted after my cancer treatment was to lose my job and have yet another adjustment but I had to swallow the bitter pill and accept it.
Defeat or loss is really hard sometimes. But we can come out a winner with how we respond to something upsetting or difficult. I believe that is exactly what Jalen Hurts is going to do and it’s what we should all do even if this Super Bowl loss or another loss in life greatly upsets us.
Yes this one “hurts” a lot and as an Eagles fan, to be this close and lose the Super Bowl is very hard to accept. But much as we have done after every other season, we cheer and show up in green again next year, hoping our favorite team can win. If we gave up after losing, the Eagles and Philly sports teams wouldn’t have many fans. We have endured a lot of losses over the years!
And the same is true in life. We can’t give up every time something doesn’t go our way or we wouldn’t get anywhere in life. Some people have an easier path than others and it is what it is. Those who have the harder path have overcome more which will only make them stronger.
I know I’ve overcome way worse than an Eagles loss in the Super Bowl. It’s just going to take time to get over this loss much like it took time to get over all the losses cancer took from me. Overcoming some things is painful and this Eagles loss is definitely one that “hurts” but it’s just one more loss to overcome.
#overcomingloss #overcomingadversity #breastcancerbattle #jobchange #Superbowlloss #jalenhurts #flyEaglesfly #pregnantwithcancer #onetoughmother
