Not What He Expected, But Maybe a Whole Lot Better

I talked to Cameron yesterday and found out that he did not get the position that he interviewed for on the Student Athletic Board - VP of Membership.  I knew that he was very disappointed about it, especially since he had not won the race for president of the group earlier in the semester as well.  For him the worst part was that all of his friends got the position that they wanted and it was hard to celebrate their victory while mourning his own loss.  We talked a lot about empathy and understanding.  Most importantly, we talked about how to handle rejection and acceptance as we both knew that this wouldn't be the last time he was turned down for something that he had worked hard to achieve.

The one topic that I had brought up to him multiple times before he applied and today after he knew the results was the belief that I had - "Everything happens for a reason."  This time it was very obvious to me what that reason was because as soon as Cameron told me about losing out on the position that he wanted, he followed it up with "but I will still be a director and they are opening it up to another sport, football." I couldn't believe it.  Cameron has been 100% Hoosier football for as long as I could remember pledging his loyalty way before he committed to IU.  He was the only one of our children who enjoyed the games even more than the tailgates.  He had stuck with them when they were 3-9 and sat through many rain drenched games even though the team had given up long before he did.  It was the perfect spot for him and even Cal said, "Do you know how much cooler it is to tell people that my brother is SAB Director of Football than VP of Membership?"  I hoped that me telling him how proud our family was of him and how awesome we thought his new position was helped him to see that the old adage "when one door closes, another one opens" is not just a saying but a belief system.