My son was speaking with his high school PE (Physical Education) teacher this week asking him if he could have permission to sit out of a running race the students were having because of his shin splints.
The teacher said, "Nope. That's how life is sometimes. You are in a race and have certain disadvantages. Deal with it."
I laughed because I thought this was so perfect.
Jonathan (my son) then went up to race. He gritted his teeth and ran his best. Then when he got close to the finish line and the other students were winning -he threw himself forward with all his might and managed to cross the finish line before them. Incurring some scrapes and bruises along the way.
He said to me "Dad I worked with what I had to win."
I was inspired because I don't do that. Winning has never been very important to me and therefore I can see how I have lost something along the way.
Winning inspires us to be our best and to leave our victim ways behind us. Jonathan understands the victim mindset and at 15 he is miles ahead of where I was at that time!
Sometimes we want to complain about our shin splints (or insert disadvantage here: ____________ .) so we feel better about losing. Winning is more than just having a position to brag from -it is about building our self-esteem.
In the Hebrew scriptures there's a story about King David when he went to fight Goliath (the Giant). The King of Israel at that time -King Saul -asks David how he knows he can defeat Goliath. He says "I fought a bear with my bare hands and also a lion with my bare hands and defeated both of them. Surely I can defeat this uncircumcised Philistine!" David's self-esteem came from his winning attitude.
Even when we don't win we can still win by having a powerful attitude. Learning from what happened and creating a new strategy that will have us win next time.
I love winning!
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