Losing

Growing up, I was taught to win, everything. I started sports in school that I was never good at and we lost. I had to ask the Assistant Principal to say about our track event on our morning homeroom broadcasts that we came in second. There were only two teams. We lost. I was the slowest runner in the second spot passing the baton. I was good at that, but we lost.

Loving Olga Korbut I was never a great gymnast but was made Captain the first week on the high school team and we had just moved into town. We made it to State finals that year, and lost. Do we see a theme here?

I told a potential Olympic athlete to stay at the State event after her performance. She’d said she was done and was going home. I said as Captain that if she left her colleagues I’d go to the judges and rescind her gold medal as I would kick her off the team. Coach agreed beforehand. Next thing I knew from outside the locker room is that she was cheering with fellow students.

Athlete, no. Leader, yes. I was very shy and didn’t believe in myself back then. College, then work and volunteerism changed that. My husband and I met 17 years ago as friends and married two years later.

Today we have a philosophy of team work. We engender talent. He lost dogs during his life, a cousin, now recently an uncle. He lost jobs to femme fatales who knew how smart he is and that they could lose their jobs so they ganged up on him.

Losing is education. Shrug it off. Learn from it. I believe that is the only way one can learn. If a path of gold is created for a child she/he cannot learn the vicissitudes of life. Oh, that’s the word of the day. Oh, my! Dee