The Green Mountain High School JV softball team ended their season as winners with an 8 - 6 victory over Sloan Lake. It wasn't always pretty but the in the end, the successes outweighed the mistakes to produce a net win for these young ladies.

But for one young lady the real win was in the life lessons learned. My 16-old daughter Rachel has always been a natural athlete. Over the years, she has tried her hand at several sports including gymnastics and dance. But until now her only long-term activity has been horseback riding. She spent several years with the Westernaires where she won several awards and made her way up to the Precisionnetes drill team.

This year as a junior, she decided she would try out for a team sport for the first time. Having never played before she was at a severe disadvantage compared to the other girls who had been playing for years. But she stuck with it and learned the game.

I took off from campaigning Thursday to watch their final game of the season. To be honest her performance was mixed. For example, I was surprised to see her bunt her way onto second base. Unfortunately, that triumph was short-lived when she was tagged out at third.

Afterwards she was upset with what she felt was her poorest showing of the season. I had to remind her she usually performs well and the occasional errors are part of life. No one can avoid mistakes entirely and it's how we handle our missteps that define us as people. As long as we try our best, never give up, and learn from our mishaps then the so-called mistakes are actually truimphs.

Although this was an important lesson for her in her young life, it dawned on me it was an important wake-up call for me as well. As my race for city council reaches its climax in the next couple weeks, it's easy to get caught up in the details of the campaign. But as I watch my daughter grow up into an incredible woman, I realize whether or not I "win" at the polls in November, I've already been blessed with success in the really important things in life - including being a parent.