Philosophy of losing

Losing is a gut wrenching, horrible experience which, at some point, happens to everybody. It is also an important training tool, and somewhat of a compass for living. A common thing kids are told is they can become whatever they want to be. To a point that is true because at that age it is difficult to tell where a kid’s true talent is, and all the kids are so far from their absolute potential that they can choose whatever path in life they want. Gradually, kids grow up and begin pursuing their dreams, however, all of them will face failure. They will be cut from a team, or get a bad grade in a class, it is life.

One of the mistakes people make is trying to “save” kids from that failure. “Everybody is winner” should never be spoken, and really is limiting a kids personal development.

Once the failure occurs, there are two ways to go, accept it and do something else where the kid will be more successful, or do not accept the failure, work to improve and try again. Both choices are completely ok.

Accepting failure and moving on is often thought of as “quitting” which nobody likes to hear, but at the same time, why would a person do something where he or she loses when he or she could do something where he or she could win. In this way, losing is like a compass in life, showing us where we are weak, and where we are strong, so we can adjust to what we like and are good at. If you follow that compass, you will be successful in life.

Once a kid finds something he or she likes and is good at and wants to pursue, losing will most likely still occur, but in this case the kid should not surrender. Instead, the loss should compared to the winner. “Why did the winner beat me?” should echo in the kid’s head while he or she works on strengths and weaknesses, overcoming obstacles, and pursuing victory. The losses show a kid where he or she needs to improve, and that is how they improve and win.