My daughter and I were supposed to get on a plane this evening to Orlando, Florida for her cheerleading competition at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in the Disney World Resort. At 8:25am, we were notified that our gym made the unbelievably hard and weighted decision to pull out of the competition that their athletes and coaches have spent hours upon hours upon hours preparing for and spent money that will most likely not be refunded (although, since this is new for everyone, there is always a chance at getting some money back). Not to mention, this is/was going to be the last competition of the season, meaning those teams without a bid will may or may not have another shot (given the chance that there is even a Summit this year), and even so, it’s just a crummy way to end a season of such hard work.
However, I believe the owners 100% made the right call.
Anyone who knows me, may say I’m stubborn *insert eye-roll emoji… because I’m NOT… well, maybe a little*. I refuse to get worked up about whatever is being hyped by the media at that point in time, mainly because I know it’s always exaggerated (and doesn’t always directly effect me–I know, I know, that sounds super selfish). So, when this virus started popping up in the news in regards to what it was doing in China, I was like “Yeah yeah, there’s no way it can be as big of a deal as they say it is. Plus, China is really far away, and I don’t travel there, nor do I know anyone around me that is/was traveling there.” Then it started getting a little closer to home by spreading to Europe, and the media hyped up even more, which just made me annoyed. Fast forward about a month, and I’m watching tv as I’m packing for this trip to the Happiest Place on Earth (or AKA the most germ-infested, too-many-people-in-close-quarters Place on Earth), and I hear, “The NBA suspends all play until further notice.”…say whaaaa???
Now, this news came not long after the NCAA announced that there would be no spectators allowed at the biggest college sporting event (the tournament as a whole) for the year. **And literally as I write this, I find out that the Big 10, ACC, and SEC Basketball tournaments have been suspended** For the first time during this whole Covid-19 pandemic, I started to get a little fearful. Not fearful of the impact it would have on me personally health-wise, but the impact that all of our teams and all of our coaches would have upon our return to Atlanta on the surrounding community (see, look at me thinking about other people!).
At this point, I’ve pretty much worked my way through the first stage of grief: Denial, with avoidance, shock, and then fear. But then, my fiancé started bringing up the very real possibility of our April wedding that we have been planning in California getting postponed or cancelled, and I got really angry (2nd stage of grief). Not angry at him, but angry at how this could happen. How could one person getting this one virus cause a GLOBAL pandemic?!? ONE PERSON. Grrrrrrrrr!!!
I really despise letting things that are out of my control work me up, so this morning, when I had to deliver the news to my 10-year-old that we were not, in fact, going to Disney World today for our favorite cheerleading competition weekend, that her competition season is over now until May, and there’s nothing we can do about it, so we need to be positive. I said those words to her, but inside, I didn’t want to be positive. I don’t want to be positive. It’s flat out not fair, and it’s frustrating, and it really really STINKS.
We all have two options: 1) Realize that it is out of our control and try to make the best of a bad situation; or 2) Continue to be angry, complain about it to anyone that will still listen, and be miserable until it goes away.
I know I don’t want to be around anyone that is a number 2 reactor, so I’m going to put on my smile and have a good attitude even though it’s SO hard.
With so much out of our control, the ONE thing that we can always control is our attitude and how we respond to adversity.
It’s not just our gym that is having to make the tough decisions, and it’s not just our kids that are disappointed about cancellations or life disruptions. This is a GLOBAL problem, and we need to be kind to each other, take care of each other, support each other and the hard decisions that they have to make, and follow the directions and advice of medical experts so that this virus can stop spreading and life can return to normal.
As cliché as it is, ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING.
