Winning

​I was watching something on TV about Casey Donovan.  She won Australian Idol in 2004.  She now writes, sings and is a song writer among other things.  She was 16 when she won idol.  She is now 32.
If at 11 she had seen what she would be doing at 28 she would have hidden behind a rock.  If I had of seen at 12 some of the things I would have done by 50 I would have hidden behind a rock (if it was the same rock, it would have been unoccupied, as I would have been there first).
But one thing I have found about having a win is it builds confidence.  The next thing may still be daunting, but what I have learned along the way stands me in good stead.  The effort has been worth it.  The times of practice no one saw paid dividends.
Too often I despise or treat to lightly the little wins.  If I have a $1 win followed by a 05c win I only have $1.05 because of the .05.  Each win builds on the last.  I fall and fail but even that may be worth .50 cents.  When I look at world heavy weight bouts, win or lose, a large amount is on offer.  Winning is better, but even losing can has its rewards.
I don’t like to lose in life matters, but if I learn from it there can be great reward.  He is famous, but Edison failed hundreds of times before he invented a light bulb.  Rather than give up, he saw each failure as a lesson in how not to do it.  My failure may be a lesson in how not to do it, but it does not mean I should give up.   Each failure can bring me one step closer to getting it right.  Getting it right can mean a lot to a lot.
Wayne Bennett used to coach Souths in the Brisbane league.  I loved his thinking.  Valleys was the team to beat.  He said, “we won’t beat them next time or the time after that, but come the finals we will be ready.”  They lost the next time they played them, and the time after that, but come the finals they won.
Losing does not make me a loser.  If I let it, it just makes me better prepared.  Losing is never fun.  It is way better to sing the team song and celebrate rather than commiserate.  But that is only the end of the story if I give up.
I find the biggest battle is with myself.  When I am out and about, I can walk the red carpet, but at home the carpet can be decidedly worn and torn.  It is really only when I am a winner at home and abroad, I am a winner.  Succeeding in one does not make me a success.  Succeeding in both does.
When I am hungry, I learn how to win.  We see it at home with the birds.  Often they defer to another.  They don’t when they are hungry though.  They do not let anything stand in their way of the food.
When I am hungry for a win, I make it happen.  It may not happen the next time or the time after that, but come the finals, I will be ready.