Winners & Losers

I, probably like many, was glued to the tv when I got home on Saturday night.  And I, probably like many, was surprised.
There were winners and losers.  It is no wonder in American sport they are so against a draw.  If teams are tied, they play until a result one way or the other happens.  To me, that is denying what happens in life.  Sometimes a stalemate is reached, and there are no winners and losers.  It is undesirable, but it happens.
For losers in any endeavour, there needs to be an examination of why, and a determination the same mistakes will not happen again.  Whatever the examination reveals it needs to be realistic.  It cannot be based simply on the belief that everyone else was wrong.
No matter if I have supported a winner or loser, I have never been one who responds positively to it being stated or implied that I am stupid.  Ok they may be implying the obvious, but some things are better left unsaid.  On Facebook the other day someone posted “I was told I am pretty. They may have said that “I am pretty stupid, but I like to concentrate on the positive.”
I may or may not agree with someone’s stand, but the surest way to alienate me is to tell me I don’t know what I am doing.  That may or may not be true, but it seems to me there are times when my support matters more than what a person may think of me.  Many years ago I was at a polling station and a candidate was there.  He said something to me and I though “you just lost my vote.”
I am a great believer in not pulling down.  I will get my chance in many cases to express my view, but it will never be after I have ranted against someone.  I may think someone can do better than another, and when it is appropriate, I will tell people why I feel a certain way.  However a lot of times, I do not feel it is my role to get on a soapbox and spruik what I think.  There will always be those who have diametrically opposite views.  I don’t know it is ever worth a permanent falling out over.
I know there are those that feel differently.  They may state something, but when the rubber meets the road, what they think comes out.  For me it can be sad but true.  Thankfully I am responsible for me, not them.
I loved the photo of Hawke and Howard sitting together in later life.  They had many different views, and different ways of going about things.  Their job was to present their case as best they could. They did it, despite it meaning exposing the other persons belief was, in their opinion, fraudulent.  But in later life they could be friends.  It was an ideology thing and not a personality thing.
Annabel Crab used to do a show called kitchen cabinet.  She and her guests would cook while she got to know them.  I will never forget how one time she had on her show two guys from different parties.  What they believed was like chalk and cheese.  But they were good friends.  They had a lot of time for each other.
I like that.  Just because someone believes different to me, mostly does not mean they need to be excluded.  As I have often said, sometimes I am right and sometimes I am wrong.   But for me, the person always matters the most.