Saturday, January 11, 2014

When you lose - don’t lose the lesson!

My 8th grade son is a Wrestler.  This is his second season wrestling and he has become my mini-man hero!  It take guts, like nothing else I have ever seen in a human, to go out there in front of a crowd in a singlet and go man-to-man all by himself.  If you have a teenage son, you know that thirteen years old is NO JOKE when it comes to self-confidence and all of that emotional stuff.  These are some tough years!  He is just learning the sport, and every single day he makes improvements in his sport.  Isn’t that what life is really all about about!?!  Getting a little better every day?  
Spiritually.  Physically.  Emotionally.
I bought my son an iPad Mini for Christmas.  I (half jokingly) told him that with it I would record his wrestling matches, but he will have to win because I don’t want to record him losing.  His reply to me was one I will NEVER FORGET:
“I will learn more from watching myself lose than watching myself win.”
Whoa.
That is a VERY mature statement and holds so much truth.
Proud mom moment right there!
I think back on failures (jobs I did not get, relationships gone wrong, quotas I did not meet, etc.) and in reflecting on those I have grown a little bit wiser every time with every failure.  I have failed many times, but those are the lessons where I learned the most!
It's funny how you forget what you did right when you win, but you never forget what you did wrong when you lose.
Sometimes we are afraid to try because we are afraid to lose, but it’s in losing that we learn the best lessons!  Winning is great, and a sweet reward for our hard work, but it’s just not going to happen every time.  We can't be afraid to lose! 
Let’s wrestle!
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2014 at 9:24 AM

    That is some fantastic wisdom your son has with him already. It's very true! Really enjoyed reading this today. :)

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  2. pbjenniJanuary 11, 2014 at 9:27 AM

    Thank you! He is such a wise young man!

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2014 at 3:52 AM

    You had me laughing (& relating) to your comment on only filming if Kyle wins. Was not prepared AT ALL for Kyle's reply! Wow! Not something you'd expect from a 13 year old. So wise beyond his years :) So humbled by that, your boy's gonna go far in life!

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  4. pbjenniJanuary 20, 2014 at 8:25 AM

    Thank you! Sometimes we teach our children - and sometimes they teach us! These are conversations that are good to capture through blogging. Maybe someday Kyle will read this to his son. :)

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