At President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Hillary Clinton stepped out onto the platform, where she was greeted by an overwhelmingly unsupportive crowd. Yet she entered the ceremony with a smile on her face. That moment caught my attention and taught me a little something about dealing with infertility.

Not too long ago, Hillary Clinton had a hope, a dream, and a confidence that she would become the next President of the United States. Up until election day, she expected that she would become President.

Talk about disappointment! Her opponent won, her hope slipped away, and her dream was crushed.

I can relate so much to her as a woman with a dream: she did the honorable thing by showing up with a smile to watch another person experience HER dream coming true.

I’ve not always had a smile on my face when I’ve had to stand by, watching someone else get that position I applied for, or that opportunity I’d been hoping for. I cry tears of disappointment when someone else gets pregnant before me. I remember wrestling with my emotions when someone else started dating a guy I was interested in. These feelings of disappointment and jealousy have been strong since childhood, back when a friend or sibling got something that I wanted. It was worse when somebody else received something that I had worked hard for.

Yet this woman was strong enough to enter with a smile to watch someone else experience her dream. We can all learn from that. (Yes, her smile faded, but she didn’t flee in tears like I might have!)

One of the most difficult times to manage the emotions of infertility is when a sister, friend, or colleague becomes pregnant easily while we are trying so hard. (And it’s happened countless times in the past 6 years.)

Supporting or celebrating another person who is getting what you want takes a lot of strength and grace.

I believe that my story isn’t over yet, and my chances at motherhood are not gone. I still struggle to cheer for others who get what I want. (And I’m not trying to become President, I just want to be Mommy. Thankfully, more than one of us can achieve that at the same time!)

The Bible says to “rejoice with those who rejoice.” It’s a tough scripture to live out, especially when my heart is grieving and it takes all of my strength to rejoice for someone else. But it can be done, so I’m writing to myself and to anyone who reads this, even when someone else receives your dream-come-true, you can put a smile on your face and choose to rejoice.

Editorial note February 2/3/17: Even though her appearance provided me a moment of helpful insight about celebrating other people’s victories, Hillary did not have my vote, in case you were wondering. Secondly, God keeps reminding me to focus on the races that HE has called me to run, not all the fun or amazing things that it seems like everybody else is getting to do. He is reminding me to be faithful to the course that HE has laid out before me. I wrote a blog post about that last week if you’re interested.
Here it is: www.lovethatbetsy.com/2017/01/my-word-for-2017.html.