WK2 Response #1-Lorri Reinhardt

Lorri wrote:

In my family we used to sit around the dinner table and talk about the ups and downs of the day also. There seem to be pros and cons to this method as one brother always got in trouble and didn’t have much success to talk about. As I remember there was a lot of fighting but there was a lot of laughter and family cohesiveness. The era seems to be gone when families sit down to dinner and talk about their days. For a while my little family played a game I saw in a movie, it seemed to take the pressure off of success or failure as I remembered it from my childhood. We would go around the table and ask what was your high point or low point and comfort each other rejoice with each other according.


As for games and contributions, well America is a competitive country no matter which way you look at it. As the two old sayings go: it’s important for you to just stay in the game; and it’s not just whether or not you win or lose, but how you played the game. From my middle age standpoint and wisdom gained it’s easy to claim that’s a contribution to the game of life is the most important thing, but I’m not sure I would have been able to see that as a seventeen or eighteen year old.


I commented:

Lorri,
the beginning of your post (like the story in the book) reminded me of a time when I was a kid and my brother and sister were both getting a verbal disciplining from my mom over the phone about their end of 6 weeks grades being horrible. Finally, when it was my turn, I had told her with enthusiasm how i aced all my tests. After I got off the phone, I had both my brother and sister to deal with. That didn't end until my Mom got home, and then there was more chaos.

I also really appreciate when you mention that it's important for you to stay in the game. Most other like phrases don't ring as true as this one. For someone who has never been too athletic and certainly knows physical defeat, I also to this day engage myself in tough sports for the sole reason of simply humbling myself and learning something new. If all I was in it for was winning and hero status, then I'd be setting myself up for failure. I do it because it makes me a better person, because if you stay in the game and show a little bit of heart, there really is no loser, because you win a lot in the long run. You certainly win more that someone who never even tries to play.