“Then the emotions came out and that was a little girly of me.”   What’s ‘girly’ about shedding tears when you’ve finally accomplished something that you’ve been working for for a very long time?  What’s ‘girly’ about expressing real emotions?   

Just a few weeks ago race car driver Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history, when she captured the Indy Japan 300 in her 50th career start.   I’ve been following her career for a long time.  I think she’s an incredibly courageous woman for several reasons; one, because she travels at speeds I can hardly fathom, and secondly, because she’s been competing in a male-dominated, highly macho sport.  I can only imagine the challenges she’s had to overcome. 

So, finally, after years of striving to win, she does - she wins a really big one and makes history.  What does she do?  She’s overcome by emotion at the thrill of her amazing accomplishment.  She sheds a few tears.  She tells the newspaper,”It made me teary. It was a little girly of me.”

Wouldn’t we all do the same thing?  Isn’t it a completely - and lovely - human thing to do?  I’ve gotten teary at far less…graduations, my daughter’s soccer match, my son’s elementary school violin concert, my half-marathon, etc. 

My family includes several big-time sports-nuts so I’ve watched my fair share of sporting events over the years.  College and professional - basketball, football, soccer, and hockey.  How many men have I seen crying at the end of a game - either when they’ve lost or when they’ve won?  Hundreds.  It’s routine, really.  As humans, they, too, have been overcome by emotion at winning - or losing. 

And as an observer I’ve been glad to see their tears.  It makes me think more of them because it’s a sign of how much they care and how much they put into the game.  It inspires me to try harder to reach my own goals as a way of feeling more alive. 

Yet, I’ve rarely, if ever, seen anything mentioned in a newspaper about their tears.  Nor would I have expected to.  It’s just a part of sports.  A part of life.  So, why the need to comment on Danica’s tears?  And why the need for her to be apologetic about them…to dismiss them and mock them as being ‘girly’? 

It takes courage to keep on working towards a goal, despite setbacks and losses.  It takes courage to hold on to a vision when you love doing something, even though it’s hard.  It takes courage to transcend barriers - either our own, internal ones, or those outside of ourselves in the form of stereotypes, etc. 

It takes courage to express ourselves honestly.  To reveal honest emotions.  To show the world our humanness. 

So, here’s to celebrating great (and small) victories, and shedding tears at our accomplishments.  And to appreciating - not dissing - them as ‘girly’.