“Sometimes in life you don’t feel like a winner, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a winner.” (Lady Gaga), from the blog Jack’s Winning Words. Jack has very eclectic taste in quotes, but he always finds a way to pull some inspiration out of them.
Today’s quote got me thinking about how oriented our society had become about winning and being a winner. Unfortunately, all too much of our use of the word winner carries with it an unstated context that someone else must therefore be the loser in whatever we are discussing. That’s unfortunate because so much of winning in life is really about achieving a sense of accomplishment or self-satisfaction out of just doing something, not somehow beating others in some competition. There are early age sports that emphasize the value of just participating, where everyone is a winner for having played; however, those same sports all too soon give way to competitive environments where the concept of being a winner means that you’ve somehow bested someone else – an individual or a team. From then on, being a “winner” takes on a different connotation. The recently completed Summer Olympics reinforced this image of winners and losers.
So, where was Lady Gaga going with this and where am I going with it? I think her point and mine is that you don’t need to constantly view life thru the lens of the competitive “winners and losers” term for winner. If you’ve tried but failed to reach some goal or reach some level in a competition, that doesn’t make you a loser. If you’ve lost out to another Realtor for a listing or your offer on a property was rejected in favor of another offer, that doesn’t make you a loser. You may not feel much like a winner at that moment; however, if you gave it your best shot and acted with integrity and honesty then you are a winner in the sense of having been true to yourself.
There is nothing wrong with acknowledging your mistakes and trying to learn and do better, based upon the losses that life throws at you; however, there is little value in beating yourself up with thoughts about “what a loser I am.” It’s is when you abandon your moral compass and allow yourself to be sucked into things that you know to be wrong that you would become a loser. So, stick to your principals and you’ll always be able to think of yourself as a winner. Let yourself be a winner every day.
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