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To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven…Atime to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;Eccl. 3:1,6 (NKJV)
I watched the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma State Cowboys last night. I was elated that my Longhorns won the game, but I was also cognizant that it was one of those games nobody deserved to lose. Both teams played well enough to win. Both of the young quarterbacks were on their game. Both teams fought and scrapped and took advantage of almost every opportunity.
It reminded me of a poem I stumbled onto a decade or so ago…
Here’s to the Men Who Lose
Here’s to the men who lose!
What though their work be e’er so nobly planned,
And watched with zealous care,
No glorious halo crowns their efforts grand;
Contempt is failure’s share.Here’s to the men who lose!
If triumph’s easy smile our struggles greet,
Courage is easy then;
The king is he who, after fierce defeat,
Can up and fight again.Here’s to the men who lose!
The ready plaudits of a fawning world
Ring sweet in victors’ ears;
The vanquished’s banners never are unfurled;
For them sound no cheers.Here’s to the men who lose!
The touchstone of true worth is not success;
There is a higher test —
Though fate may darkly frown, onward to press,
And bravely do one’s best.Here’s to the men who lose!
It is the vanquished’s praise that I sing,
And this is the toast I choose:
‘A hard-fought failure is a noble thing!
Here’s to the men who lose!’
-George L. Scarborough
America loves a winner. We love front-runners and underdogs (who win.) Wecelebrate the victors while relegating the vanquished to historicalfootnotes. And that makes us…no different from any other people populatingplanet Earth.
Ah, the thrill of victory!
Oh, the agony of defeat!
If you have been long in this world, you have experienced both. One is sweet; the otherbitter. But both are invaluable.
If you never lost, how would you know howgood winning could feel? If you never failed, how would you know how sweetthe taste of success? Babe Ruth knew the feeling of success. He hit morehome runs than anyone else in his day. He also knew better than anyone the bitterness of failure, because he led the world in strikeouts.
Think aboutit! The best in the world fail more than they succeed. No one wins all theSuper Bowls or all the World Series or all the Masters’ jackets…
Show me a person who never fails and I will show you a person who neveraccomplishes anything worthwhile.
That business venture of yours may meetwith wild success…or you may have to close your doors soon. Your proposalmay be accepted, or it may be rejected. You may ace that test or you maybarely squeak by. Regardless, if you have laid it all on the line, if youhave done the absolute best you can do, then you have won! You have won thesmile of God. You have won the admiration of those who know you best andlove you most. And you have won the right to lick your wounds, learn fromyour mistakes, reload your gun…and fire again.
A Thought for Today: The loser is not the one who does SOMETHING and fails;the loser is the one who does NOTHING and succeeds.
A Prayer For Today: “Father, help me to meet the challenges of my life withdetermination and commitment. If I stumble, steady me; if I fall, pick meup; if I go the wrong way, stop me. But help me, Lord, never to quit. InJesus’ name. Amen.”
