"Just Win Baby." The Al Davis special.
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing"--attributed to Vince Lombardi, though there are those who claim he never said it.
No matter; it's the spirit of those statements that has me conflicted. Let me just say it's funny how we change after we have kids. When I was younger (oh great, one of those "reminiscent moments")--and by younger I mean everything before right now--I live by those mantras. Winning was the only thing, and if rules needed to be bent to achieve that then so be it.
On the one hand I want my kids to be ethical, moral individuals, on the other hand I want them to be happy, and happy people are winning people. Competition can be a good thing. But it's hard to see in yourself, when you stop into "poor loser"-ville and get a room for a few nights. But then you see some fool playing poker across the table from you (yeah, you know who you are Fool), complaining ad nauseam that another player is making bad plays, in a way that is demeaning and just plain rude & belittling, and it becomes easy to see how "poor loser"-ville booms into a metropolis full of mock-turtleneck-wearing a-holes.
You notice when it's not you, it's easy, and you think how sad this little man is, and you think "I want my kids to be winners, but how to teach them grace at the same time?"
B/c the fact is, that "poor loser" is going to end up getting punched in the mouth by someone less adjusted than myself, and he won't ever "get it" but in some ways he'll deserve it.
You want them to be winners, you want your kids to have that killer instinct, but how to teach them not to be that guy, how to not be yourself that guy?
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