Random Thoughts on Winning and Losing

How often we've all heard that.

But, how many times have we heard "Our wins are wonderful. But, we learn from our losses. It isn't what happens to you. It's what you do with it."

Those words were spoken by Eastern Greene Scrabble sponsor Dinah Fuller during a Monday morning interview with the Greene County Daily World.

Now, learning from losses isn't anything new. But, the words that follow are like a breath of fresh air.

"It isn't what happens to you. It's what you do with it."

To me, that thought encompasses more than just wins and losses. It's relevant to everything.

I like it because it recognizes that we are responsible for our actions.

So, you lost. Now, what will you do?

It's not about the loss, it's about using the loss as an opportunity to grow.

Losing can bring about a range of emotions. It can make us feel mad, sad, vengeful or cause us to blame. It's easy to blame others for our failures and it's hard to carry the responsibility ourselves.

Being responsible for our losses involves a deep-look within. It allows us to recognize our strengths and weaknesses and go from there.

In the realm of things, losing is only an opportunity to grow. Nothing more or less.

In my opinion, this thought goes way beyond seeing yourself as just a loser or a winner. It's about the choices you make after the fact.

If it's a given, that 'we win some and we lose some' then it's a given that in either case nothing lasts forever. What's here today may be gone tomorrow.

So, what's really important?

Sure, we all love the high that a win brings.

But would winning feel so good if we didn't experience losing? And how would we ever win if we didn't understand why we lost?

We already know that blaming others for our losses won't make us become winners.

So, here's to remembering that one moment of victory lasts as long as the same one spent in defeat.

Life is more than wins and losses it's also about the time spent in between.