Recently I had a guy friend in town visiting and he, like myself, is a big college football fan. Being that it was the beginning of the season, it came up in conversation once or twice (understatement). At one point, he started picking on my team, which he does on a regular basis (an obvious overlooked character flaw?), and was talking about how his team wins "championships" unlike my team in recent years. I started to say, "it's not about..." when he interrupted me and said, "Of course it's about winning! Is that what you were going to say?". I decided not to continue because he had been drinking and I knew it was a battle I would not win.
Well, I was thinking about that conversation tonight, and it hit me. I was right. It isn't about winning or losing. Now, don't get me wrong, I love (love, love) to win. I am competitive at heart and grew up playing sports year round, but it's not about winning, at least in this case, and not as much any more. To put in modern day musical times, it's about "the climb" (thanks Miley). Yes, I know cliche, but some of my victories were learned after my losses. But back to football...
At the end of the day, yes, I want my team to win, but if they lose, will it ruin my day (maybe :)? Will it take away from all the fun and excitement that game day brought my friends and I? The cookout that brought us together? Or the late night laughs and drinking games long after the fourth quarter has ended? No, it won't. Will I lose my job because of a Saturday game gone wrong? No, I won't. Will the world stop turning because we couldn't put enough points on the board??? No.
I will still wake up everyday and be me and have the hope of what the new day will bring. But my friend in question, apparently, it will ruin his day. And if his college football team winning another game strokes his ego and makes him feel more like a man, then good for him. But I don't need a win to let me know the sun will rise the next day and that next season, no matter who wins, we all start out at 0-0-0.
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I think you're right, It's playing the game, cause playing feels like winning.
ReplyDeleteSecretia