Participation trophies get a bad rap.
I’ve heard them held up as everything that is wrong about a generation.
It’s time I come clean…I like participation trophies.
As a strikingly unathletic individual, I have received a few trophies I didn’t deserve.
As a strikingly flawed human being, I have received grace I didn’t deserve.
But, participation trophies get a bad rap.
I mean, C’MON!!! We are Americans for crying out loud!!! We value competition over charity!!
Participation trophies smell too much like grace. As long as we are winning, we prefer justice over mercy.
But…
Participation matters.
Sometimes the hardest thing in life is just showing up. It takes commitment and courage to show up everyday and do what you have to do.
Some people deserve a trophy everyday…
The young parent who goes without sleep and takes care of a helpless little human. The older parent who goes without sleep while waiting for their teenager to make it home, literally and figuratively. The unappreciated employee who works nonstop for another person’s vision. Everyone who gives and lives and puts self on hold. Everyone who does something no one else wants to do.
They show up.
Even when it’s hard.
They participate everyday.
Give them a trophy.
Participation matters.
It says I was a part.
Not everyone can be #1, somebody has to be #2. (NOBODY wants to be #2) Sometimes the simple act of participating is a humbling thing. It’s sharing the spotlight, it’s surrendering the spotlight.
You do things that you aren’t personally passionate about.
But, if you participate in enough things, you will eventually find your primary thing. You participate until you can pursue.
Participation opens the door for passion.
Participation trophies speak loud.
They say…
I showed up.
I was a part of a team.
Participation matters.
So…
Show up!
Smile at your teammates.
AND, hold your participation trophy high!!
carbonated joy 