I recently returned from a trip to “Lost Wages”. Anybody who knows me will testify that casino owners will never discourage me from returning because my luck is what their industry is built on. However, for the first time, I returned home no worse off (financially) than when I left. And while not everyone would consider this winning, I do!
As I sit here in the afterglow of my non-losing, the meaning of winning is on my mind.
For most of us, the idea that more money was spent than was returned home would be considered a loss. The simple equation of before being more than after being the test. But I don’t feel that way so I have to ask if this is some cultural trait that I’m just not getting? I didn’t do what I’d usually do and spend every dollar in my wallet, I had fun meals with my friends, and I felt extremely happy as I took off on my plane. Could this possibly be what losing feels like?
Contrary to what Charlie Sheen might think, winning is not something that you can proclaim or declare. It isn’t something that that happens in an instant like the final result on a scoreboard or a vote total in an election. Real winning is the culmination of lots of small victories and even some losses. It’s about character and the way we conduct ourselves leading up to that moment where a “winner” is declared.
I’m a firm believer in “what goes around, comes around”. If I deal with people honestly, if I put forth my best effort, and if I strive for the best outcome in all situations, then I can honestly say that I deserve to be a winner. If not, no amount of self-promotion, self-proclamation, or delusion can make a winner.
So That's Life?
Winning and Losing
06/25/2012Posted in commentary | Leave a Comment »