To win or not to lose; that is the question

Is it just ME, or did you, too, used to think that to win meant you had to come in first?

Thankfully, we grow up!

Time is a great teacher.  It subtly settles the arguments we have with ourselves, it answers the questions that even the experts cannot give us on demand, it heals, it nurtures, it puts things in to perspectives.

TIME!  Who knew?

Let’s get back to winning…

The world is, indeed, a competitive place. We are ranked, rated, seeded, evaluated.  We are told we need to be the best, the brightest, the most likely to succeed.  We are told to win, sometimes at all costs.

I wonder, then, what is the opposite of winning?  Logic would tell me it is ‘not to win’ and vice versa.

Time has taught me that ‘not to win’ means not to have tried.  Losing, on the hand means you may not have come in first but you tried.  Ergo, losing may not be as bad as we are sometimes made to feel.

The most decorated women in winter Olympic history is, now retired, speed-skater Bonnie Blair.  I think it would be fair to say Bonnie must have felt like a winner to have qualified to compete in her first games.  She finished far from first place.  She did, however, begin to build her legacy and competed in three consecutive Olympiads and took home 5 Gold medals:  a winner, by any definition.

Of winning, Bonnie Blair said, “You don’t have to come in first to win.” Hmmmm

So, just what does it take to be a winner?

Here’s how I see it:

            Beth’s Top Ten Things to do to Call Yourself a Winner

-         Be perseverant over persistent

-         Learn along the way

-         Don’t win at the expense of another

-         Believe in who you are, what you envision and why you envision it

-         Don’t compromise, but be willing to change course

-         Remember to appreciate those who we with you in the beginning and don’t forget them in the end

-         Put in an honest day’s work each and every day

-         Turn out the light at the end of that day knowing you gave it your all

-         Be willing to put your feet on the floor the next day willing to do even more

-         Stay true to yourself

We cannot all come in first place all the time, be we can all be winners every time.  The only way not to win is to not try or to give up too soon:  your choice.

So IS it just me, or do you, too believe Bonnie Blair is a winner on AND off the ice?

 I hope you rest well tonight; tomorrow is another day.