My son attended one of the largest high schools in Utah. He was cut his freshman year then the head coach called us and said a spot opened up and they wanted him. He was then cut the next three years and was told he was the last player cut. It was brutal. These schools are so competitive. I used to ask him, “do you know who played on this team 20 years ago?” He would say no. Then I would say, “nobody else does either. The only people that remember are those players. And they’re just living in the past.” I don’t know if that helped much.

We just tried to show him love and support and to remind him that his worth is eternal and not dependent on making a team.

Two years ago at his mission farewell he spoke about how he was thankful for those hard experiences. Hard is good. Trying and failing builds character. He can also empathize with others who struggle. He had missionaries come to him during his mission who were really ready to quit. He was able to help them in ways maybe someone who hadn’t experienced those trials wouldn’t have been able to.