[Daily Essay] Being Selected Is What Matters

It was down to the wire.
It was a close call.
I let out a sigh of relief.
But what my second son was looking at was the "result."

For the first time this school year, the official junior high basketball tournament will be held starting this month.
Since it is the second year since my second son's club team was established, this is their first time participating.

Although 20 players can be entered for the team, only 15 can be on the bench.
From about two weeks ago, my second son kept saying,
"I wonder if I'll be chosen..."
He said that many times and was restless.

If things went as expected, there were only two third-year students, so my second-year son seemed like he would be fine.

But in sports, grade level and experience don't matter.
For our family, it might have been a result that felt cruel.
I was prepared for that.

And then, the other day, the members were finally announced.
On LINE.

The result was that he was somehow chosen.

However, 15 minutes before that, my second son's name was not on the member list the coach had sent by mistake.

In the one sent first,
actually, a player who was scheduled to be absent was mistakenly listed.

The coach noticed this and hurriedly corrected it.
He sent the official member list again.
On that one, my second son was somehow able to have his name included.

Literally, he is a substitute.

Even so, I was happy.
And I was relieved.
For a moment.

But the time of relief was fleeting.

"It was a close call, it was down to the wire, that was scary~"
Those words just slipped out of my mouth.

Even after some time had passed, my excitement didn't subside, and as I muttered,
"It really was a close call,"
my second son said to me,

"I'm in a great mood. I don't need to hear about it being a close call. Being selected is what matters."
he said.

I am a doting parent.
I might be looking at it too favorably.

But at that moment,
I felt the strength of my second son's heart.

If I were my second son,
"I'm just a substitute anyway"
"It's embarrassing to be a last-minute pick"
I might have felt that way.

That might be because I have valued the saying,
"The process is more important than the result."
But my second son was different.



"I was selected"He was simply happy with that result.

It was a close call, it was down to the wire.

It was me who gave it that meaning.
It's okay to have days where you just enjoy the result.



"The result is more important than the process"It's okay to have days like that too.Let's try shining a spotlight only on the result.

I was able to make a meal.
I was able to go to work.
I was able to meet people.
Just acknowledging what you were able to do.

That alone is a gold star.

The result over the process.

That phrase
has been nominated for my buzzword of the first half of the year.