A big thanks to Wendy Melchior for writing about her sons baseball game and prompting us to think about the culture of winning and losing that we are fostering today and for inspiring both my hubby and I to respond.
I write about winning every week. Our local football team has been very successful this year and are 5-0 for the season. These stories are fun and in many ways easy to compose. But I also have an idea for the opening of an article should they happen to lose. A fatalist....maybe. But sooner or later everyone loses...EVERYONE. Character is shown by how we handle those losses...in truth, character is formed thru the losses in the first place. The most compelling stories, the most interesting movies, start with losers. Losers who persevere and learn lessons and overcome obstacles.
One of our favorite movies is Little Big League about a kid inheriting a major league baseball team and against considerable odds, leading them into the playoffs...where they end up losing. The last scene in the film shows a dejected team being called back out to the field so they can be enthusiastically embraced by their fans. The story would have been less satisfying had they won. I love that these guys lose, I love that the movie makes a statement about something much more important than winning a baseball game.
Life truly should be about how you play the game.
Surprise!
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20 pounds of potatoes is what we pulled from the ground a few days ago.
Doesn't sound like much, but we were clearing a bed for more planting and
had left ...
9 years ago
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1 comment:
Right on, Dear. We are too much the culture of win at all cost and "I'll take my ball home if I don't."
"History is the record of an encounter between character and circumstances." Donald Creighton, a Canadian historian wrote that. I think it applies to our culture because instead of working or fighting through the circumstances, we flee. Or give a trophy to the 5th place team so we don't ruin a child's life.
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