Every day of camp I enjoyed to a certain degree, but the best day of the week was Tuesday. On Tuesday my girls were in the gym for half an hour. This summer I've taken to calling them "Team Dykstra," and they seem to get a kick out of that. They got to come eat lunch during our break with me, and then we went and fooled around in the gym until the next session started, passing basketballs back and forth and running around and giggling. I introduced them to a couple of high school players who were still around. Then they left. They were only there for half an hour, but they turned a good day into the best day of the week.
This lesson from camp isn't a whole lot more complicated than that: quite simply, everything I like is better when my family is there. The least enjoyable years of my coaching career were when the girls were too young to be in the gym. My family life was at home; my coaching life was at the gym. I felt alone. The wins were never as good, and the losses were tougher to take. Before that when my wife was at every game, sometimes nervously keeping the scorebook while I scowled and shouted and demanded to know how many fouls my point guard had, I could share coaching with my family. Now that my girls are in the gym, I get to share that joy infinitely more.
There are times when I definitely need to get away. I get on my bike to escape sometimes. Or I go on a run. Or workout. But I've figured out that most of what I enjoy in life goes from good to great when my family is a part of it. I've got to get my girls in the gym.
Occasionally my wife will leave town for a weekend to see friends. Once a year, maybe twice, I pull single dad duty. I used to dread it because it was really hard work. The girls were smaller, needier, less independent. It was exhausting, and I couldn't wait for Emily to get home and rescue me.
She left for one of those weekends recently, and the same anxious feeling for her to return quickly was there. Now, though, it was for a different reason. The girls and I had a great weekend - we went hiking, swimming, and to a small gathering of friends; we read and went out to eat and went to church. But something was missing. Hiking and swimming, reading and playing, parties and church are all good; but they are so much better with all my girls. The second my wife returned, I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled a little bigger - Team Dykstra was together again.
If you want the good in your life to go to great, get your most important teammates with you and share it with them.
***This is my 3rd post regarding Notes from Camp 2013. To read the others, click on the following links:
No comments:
Post a Comment