I Built A Lamp! (Celebrating Life's Victories)

Early Reflections: Tuesday, November 12th

Our daughter's three day weekend was spent catching up on homework, catching up with friends, catching up on sleep, and trying to catch up and check one project off of our list. In this case, mom’s new home office. With the desire to create a unique space, designed especially for her, coupled with her desire to use as much of what we already had, while spending as little as possible, our task over the last several weeks has been daunting.

It has also been a project filled with debates and discussions between us. Us being me and my daughter as mom was evicted from the room when the project started. Over time, our ideas developed, sketches drawn, furniture placed and replaced. When "construction" began, the girl who was unaware of what a drill and who was put off by the noise, suddenly became quite adept, to the point where she finished building mom’s desk on her own one night after dinner. #BOOM

Then there is the lamp.

One trip to our three favorite stores, the Navy Exchange, Target and Ikea had us returning with a cornucopia of items needed to complete the room. Including a floor lamp that, like everything else in the room, required assembly. After watching me build a couch, helping me build a bookcase, finishing building a desk, she grabbed the box and said “I’ve got this.” Less than an hour later, she triumphantly exclaimed,

“I BUILT A LAMP!”

It became a mantra for the weekend. When faced with a task that she didn’t feel up to, we would simply say “you built a lamp!”, and slowly, she would smile, offering herself a moment of pride, then continue pushing forward.

It is tough when you feel like you are on a losing streak. It seems that everything you touch, everything you do is predestined to fail. Coaches of a team experiencing a losing streak will often build a game plan not for the future, but to win this game, right here, right now, so that the team rediscovers what if feels like to succeed. The taste of victory can often be the spark needed to win more.

We all need that. We need those moments, especially in the middle of a perceived losing streak where we can find and celebrate the wins. It reminds us of what we are capable of and gives us the strength to push forward once again.

She finished her Human Geography and various other assignments. We finished mom’s office. And I think I hear her upstairs getting ready for school. I think...

AND she built a lamp!

(follow me @rhoniball or connect with me at www.honiball.me)