Someone Won and Someone Lost, but There Were No Losers
Kenneth Nalls
Interest: Marketing and Motivation. Student of Life-Long Learning, Blogger walkwithgodthejourney.com
As a kid, I played (shot) marbles—sometimes for “keeps” and sometimes for “fun.” You need not have played marbles to guess which version our parents preferred us to play.
All the kids in the neighborhood understood the goal of the competition. We played football, baseball, horseshoes, cops, and robbers. But when the game, contest, or event was over, and a winner or winners were declared, we were all best friends and buddies. No one lost, and there were no losers. We just moved on to the next competition.
Today is a technological world. Kids don’t shoot marbles in driveways (dirt is needed for the playing field) or play cops and robbers solving neighborhood “crimes.” Today, there is no need for two empty soup cans with a string attached to them to communicate — text or call your friends on your cell.
Time brings change—much of it beneficial. But not all change is positive. Today, many people have adopted the mantra of only playing for keeps and forgotten how to have fun. Today, we often recognize the winner and classify all the other participants as losers. Somehow, that doesn’t sound right. If you win, you win. If you don’t win, you lose. You are not a loser; you have failed.
Our goal should be to work hard and be competitive. But when we’ve given our best and the game is over, we should move on to the next contest.
? That Reminds Me of a Story”