It is the bottom of the 9th. Bases are loaded. Two outs. Your team is down 3 runs and you step up to the plate. You look the pitcher in the eyes. You seem calm as can be but deep down you feel the weight of every fan crashing in on you. You notice sweat drip down the pitcher’s face. Could he be nervous too? Why? They have the game in the bag. Could he just be sweating from the activity? The pitcher swallows. You see it catch in his throat. Suddenly you realize he is more nervous than you. The first pitch comes in and Boom. Walk off grand slam to dead center. You are filled with join, the pitcher hangs his head in shame and defeat. How can you feel so great when somebody else’s life may now be changed forever. You won, right? It should feel great. Or did you just not fail? Did the pitcher fail? Or did they just not win?
The brightest people in life realize that you can’t let failure hold you back. Failure is not the end of life. Just like winning is not the high point in life. If you went through life without losing, without failing, your life would be pretty boring. You win everything, but what is the point?
You encounter a genie, he gives you the ability to never lose again. You go to the casino and win every hand of poker. You buy every lottery ticket and win all of them. You decide to become a pro in your favorite sport and win every game/match/event. Life is good. But quickly the thrill goes away. There is no point in trying, you are just going to win. Everyone in the world resents you. Tom Brady got hate for years because he always won. Imagine that but thousands of times worse since you win everything. Sports betting sites have to make custom rules for you. Everything is just meh.
In a world where you always win, winning doesn’t seem all that great. One of the best parts about winning is that fact that you didn’t lose. Losing is something that is needed in life to make winning feel special. We need both sides of the spectrum in order to truly live. What does this mean? It means it is okay to lose. It is okay to fail. You need failing in your life to make winning actually feel good.
Next time you fail something, just remember that it is an important part of life. We learn, grow, and prosper from the failures in life not in the winning Take a step back from the sorrow you may be feeling and embrace what is actually happening in front of you. You may have just thrown the worse pitch of your life, but in doing so you also brought incredible joy to many people. So why you may not have won, you now have the experience. Losing makes us stronger.
So back to the root question, what does it mean to win? In my mind, winning just means that you didn’t lose. Losing is the root of winning. We should embrace the fact we won, but not forget that losing is still an option, it is not the end of the world if you lose. Once you take a step back and realize what could have been and emphasize with those who lost, the win feels that much better. Remember do not hate yourself each time you lose. Make sure you embrace losing, just like you embrace winning.
The Kutty Katt's Thoughts 