Polo Games

Last weekend my husband and I went to our first polo match. It was the Virginia Beach Polo Club vs. the British Forces Foundation as part of an annual event, “Chukkers for Charity.”

I went to their website before I attended so I’d have a little more knowledge on what I was watching. I discovered that a chukker was an inning. There are six chukkers and only four players on each team. Because of the intense workout the horse gets during the seven minute chukker with stopping, starting, turning, and full-throttle speed up to the length of ten football fields from goalpost to goalpost, the players use a fresh horse each chukker. So a team needs 24 horses at their disposal during a game. To top it all off, the players are hitting a 3 inch ball with a long wooden mallet, like they’re playing croquet or golf, only thundering along at high speeds on the back of a polo pony, trying to make the hit before their competition!

Sounds a bit like the game of life, don’t you think?!

While I was waiting for the match to start, I wandered around to get the lay of the land and look for friends. It was one big, albeit classy, tailgate party! In fact, there were contests that encouraged “The Best Tailgate, “The Best Hat,” “The Best Dressed.” There were even games for the children, including pony rides, air-filled jumping tents and slides.

As the balmy afternoon unfolded, I enjoyed watching the game of life on the sidelines as well! It was great to see families, friends, and business associates come out to enjoy some R&R together, to support a worthy cause, and to admire the expertise and courage the polo players demonstrated on the field.

Between the exchanges, the bantering, the cheering, the serving and being served, everyone’s life perspective subtly appeared in one way or another. To a perceptive or intuitive person, the viewers, caught in a moment of involvement, were unaware they were wearing their heart on their sleeve. For wherever you go, there you are! You cannot get away from yourself!

Whoever you are shows up with you. Whether it shows up as a party arranger meticulously setting up the food, flowers, lace tablecloth, dining room table and candles for her tailgate group, or the couple showing up in their 2-seater with a couple of folding chairs and a TV tray with beer and ice chest in hand, some part of everyone’s gifts, priorities, perspective, and personality comes to the forefront.

So if excellence is your priority, do all things worthy of doing with excellence! If building relationships is your priority, then reach out to be a faithful friend, gracious listener and encourager. And if your focus is some self-care and rejuvenation time, then by all means soak up the warmth and freedom of that special time, allowing yourself to be lost in the moment and enjoying the process!

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1