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Friday, July 31, 2009

Have You Ever Had A "Burn-out Moment?"..

Nearly a week after the BB-Q contest, I am still in free- fall... Competing in anything- from sports, gambling, oh Heck! Anything! Takes a toll. When you win, you are geeked! Invincible, will never lose again, learned from your mistakes... But anyone who competes in anything will eventually lose. If you ever competed, you know this... I always tell people, if you don't try you will never win. Being scared of failure, keeps some really excellent people from competing. Fear is what? When you ask someone: "What is the worst that could happen?" By their own words.. not much..
Failure teaches:
1. Humility. Other people are capable too.
2. Respect. How can you not respect a person, that has bested you at what you are good at- fairly?
3. Knowledge. How you can not learn from someone that knows more than do you?
4. Philosophy. When you win, you don't think. When you lose, you do. Point one, two, and three above will help you win, and be gracious when you do.

Competing in contests is how I got many of my friends into something they could take a personal pride in.
Winning and losing became less important to me, when I found out I could give a sense of joy to people, who needed something to take pride in..themselves.
P.S.- Don't think I will take a beating and like it- ever!

22 comments:

Denise said...

Failure is never fun, but if you take something away from it for the next time then, in my opinion, you have also won. Competiyion is great, it makes you who you are. I hate losing, bowling,softball anything, but my feeling is that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Im sure you are a fierce competitor, I like and admire that.

Mr. Condescending said...

Losing sucks that's all I know!

Marjie said...

If you copped to liking defeat, I'd wonder just how deranged you are! No one actually enjoys defeat. If you can be a graceful loser, that's good. As for me, I have to keep clawing my way up, making me sometimes quite unpleasant. Oh, well, it is what is. And we all fail sometimes; such is life.

buffalodick said...

Denise- I used to win and loved it, and when I lost- it wasn't pretty! No one ever counts me out, I just respect other folks, and their abilities better now...
Mr.C- Show me a person who is OK with losing, and I will show you a loser!
Marjie- You are right... when we quit trying, we quit breathing!

Chris said...

Living life running from fears instead of pursuing your desires would be failure. So you haven't failed in my book. Like you said, many excellent bbq cooks have never had the courage to step into the ring and mix it up.

buffalodick said...

Chris- I think the funniest, yet most true words I ever heard... "Never get in a fight with an ugly man- he's got nothin' to lose..." I have never taught anyone how to win, beyond telling them you simply have to get into the fight before you can win or lose!

Donna-FFW said...

I could think of one instance, ok maybe 2, where you might enjoy a 'beating'.. kidding:)

wink wink

King of New York Hacks said...

So ....whats next on the menu ??

KB said...

I hate to lose...who doesn't? As long as you learn something from an experience, it's not a total loss.

rachaelgking said...

Humility's for suckers.

Just kidding.

Sorta.

MarmiteToasty said...

If one tries and doesnt win, it does not mean you have failed.......

If you dont try that is when there is failure..

x

buffalodick said...

Donna- You certainly have a way of distracting me...
King- Back to food posts soon... Batteries are almost recharged!
KB- Custer got slaughtered at The Little Big Horn, because he was arrogant and hadn't ever lost much.. He seriously underestimated the competition that day!
LiLu- You're young yet.. the beatings will take effect someday, and you may never be humble, but you will learn to act like it once in awhile! Lord knows I took a lot of beatings before I figured that out..
Marmy- I learned in Jr. High wrestling- Don't ever give up.. your opponent just might!

JihadGene said...

Good stuff, all. If ya help out someone along the way it's GRAVY! Personally I love ass beatings!!! So in that frame of mind, I think I'll watch the news and see what "teachable moments" in health care, Obama has planned for my stooopid butt.

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like you've got the right attitude.

Winning won't mean much if you won every single time (although it might be fun).

Scarlet said...

Good lesson here. Still, I think you should get that medal every time. ;)

buffalodick said...

Gene- We get to an age where we can share what we have learned along the way..
K- Someday I hope to take a photo of all the team's awards- about 20 trophies for chili, dozen ribbons for BB-Q...
Scarlet- Thanks! I'll probably post food today...

Akelamalu said...

There'd be no point in taking part in anything unless you wanted to win. Unfortunately someone has to lose. Better luck next time.

buffalodick said...

Ake- True. I don't play the board game "Risk" anymore... I retired from it before someone beat me!

Mona said...

Like they say : one stoops to conquer.

You win some while you lose some...

Hit 40 said...

I bet you will come up with some even better tricks for next year!! Losing motivates me to kick ass even harder the next time.

urban vegan said...

My mom used to say that "It's easier to handle failure than it is to handle success." It is a great teacher, for sure. But why even use such a strong word? So American of us, to be winners or losers, when in fact, most of life is one delightful grey area.

buffalodick said...

Mona- Not the male intepretation, but applicable!
Hit40- Someday, I will be the guy in the rest home playing Tiddly Winks, for money... Competing is what Mom Nature designed us to do!
UrbanV- You are competitive, and don't tell me you're not! As we become wiser with age, the grey area increases... very profound of you...