“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”
― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
“We did our best, unfortunately we lost the game”
This is what I told myself when we were defeated by our opponent in last Monday and Tuesday’s soccer match finals between our team Humilitas and our opponent Temperantia. It was really a tough match. The first half of the game held last Monday was really incredible and rough and so with the second half of the game held last Tuesday. All of us did our best in order to reach the sweetness of the Championship trophy. Unfortunately, we were defeated. The final score was 3-2 in favor of our opponent. Actually, we feel so pity on ourselves that we created so many diligent attempts in order to get some goals, but that day was really an unlucky day for us. At first, we feel the remorse of being defeated in the game after doing our very best to secure the championship, afterwards the feeling of remorse immediately dissolved and just told ourselves it’s just part of the game; there are losers and winners. But, losing in a game is not the end of everything and a reason to quit. It’s just a means for us to improve more, to move forward, and to set sail once more toward our desired goals.
From this experience, I learned something valuable into my life. I learned that being defeated does not mean I should stop moving on; it’s just an opportunity to see the brighter side of struggling for success and accomplishment. I remember one of the insights of George E. Woodberry which talks about the positive side of defeat; “Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” Hence, God allows defeat in order for us to realize that we cannot reach and attain success through an easy-going and tolerant attitude. It always takes a lot of our perseverance, effort, and persistence. Actually, many people became famous, popular, and successful in the world not because they are really best, but because they accept the fact that defeat is a necessary means in order for them to reach the seemingly unreachable dreams into their lives. In life, it’s not on the winnings that we may be able to find out our fulfilled selves, it’s always on how we deal the various defeats that we encounter in life. Being a loser of our soccer match finals that was held last Monday and Tuesday is not a guarantee that I am such a failure. First and foremost, it does not bother me at all. The important thing is we did our best and we brought a good match for our opponents.
Insights from a WIMPY millenial 