Wins & Losses

September 22, 2008

One of the blogs I've been reading regularly--well, as regularly as you can when the writer only posts once a week, a concept that seems promising to me--is Fitchick, aka Selena Yeager, who is a writer Bicycling magazine and author of a number of books on fitness for women. She recently completed an Iron Man triathlon (in Louisville, KY) and qualified for the Kona Triathlon in Hawaii, which is the big one everybody thinks of if they're crazy enough to think about Iron  Man Triathlons at all.

Anyway, she wrapped up today's blog entry with something that I felt applied terribly well to writing and, well, to life in general.

I keep a lyric from Public Enemy's "He's Got Game" written on my office white board: "Don't let a win go to your head. Or a loss to your heart." I try to live by those words in all areas of my life, athletic and otherwise. And I've thought about them more than ever this year, especially lately, as I prepare for this final contest of the season. It's easy to let races take on a life of their own and to let them define you, or worse, your self worth. The fact is that the game is big and unpredictable and never ending. There will always be winners and losers and everyone in between. Where you fall in that line-up is as much a matter of chance some days as it is talent and preparation. In the end it's how you play that matters most. Train hard. Respect your competitors. Try your best. And above all, enjoy the experience. After all, it's just a game.

Cheers,

Mark Terry