Wiped Out!

Not to long ago, I was sitting on the Sherman's couch with Katelyn and Aaron playing Wipeout on the Wii. Let's just say I was thrown into the wind with no instructions or advice. And unsurprisingly, I stunk. I "wiped out" only about 50 times on this one obstacle (they had forgotten to take if off expert mode so that I was never just given a time penalty and allowed to move on; you had to keep trying, and trying, and trying, and trying). Aaron finished the course in about two minutes and here I am at about fifteen minutes still trying to jump across this silly, moving beam. I was frustrated, yes, but I was NOT willing to take Kate up on her offer to finish it for me. I needed to prove to myself that I could do this. And trust me, when I made it across that one obstacle FINALLY, all three of us screamed so loud that you would have thought we had just won the lottery. Mrs. Jennifer even asked later what our big scream was all about. The moment was bliss. The rest of the obstacle course was fairly easy and I made it to the finish line, only 16+ minutes behind Aaron.

This event relates all to well to how I feel right now. The frustration part, not the bliss. I have been jumping and jumping and jumping into college applications, scholarships, interviews, etc. and keep falling, falling, falling, again and again. It's so easy to get discouraged and feel unworthy. I must have faith that when I take the jump that does eventually cross me over to the other side, the joy will be much greater than had I made it across on my first attempt. Had I passed that Wipeout obstacle on the first try, none of us would have even cheered. I will know how hard it was to get where I am headed and the pride and joy will be all the more.

But just like that day, it's frustrating to continue to fail and fall and crash, and have to climb out of the water and try again. It's easy to want to throw in the towel and just say, "heck with all this." I did not let Kate take my Wii controller, and I will NOT give up.

Something,

Somewhere,

Someday,

Great things await.

And I am already excited about being able to jump up and scream!! I will keep this in the back of my head when I get so down about my college search journey.

K