2/8/16 There
will be loss…
Today many
people across the country are celebrating with the winning Super Bowl team.
And, also today a different team/organization is asking themselves what happened. That
team is mourning the loss of a (nearly) literal brass ring that landed just out
of their reach. Today, they are losers. Ouchy!
As a parent,
one of my roles is to help my kids learn to strive to be the best and to win-
to win well and graciously. And, I am responsible to help them to learn to lose
well. Losing is a part of life. Ultimately, someone must lose in most
competitions- even the best teams and competitors will lose sometimes.
Acclaimed coach, Tony Dungy, once said, “You may not win the Super Bowl. Your
kids may not go on to be doctors and lawyers and everything may not go
perfectly. That doesn't mean it was a bad plan or the wrong thing. It's just
like a football season. Everything's not going to go perfect.” So, when we
lose, how do we handle ourselves? If something doesn’t come out the way we
thought it would, what do we do about it? Are we assessing what we could have
done differently and making changes for the next time?
As an
educator, I must, frequently, help a student think about and make plans to
change what went wrong in a previous semester. I do that, though, after
celebrating what was gained and accomplished. In life and learning, there
doesn’t have to be losers. Life is a not a zero sum game. We may need to help
students understand that their “loss” is an opportunity to improve and learn
and move forward. Because, losing does not make someone a loser.
No comments:
Post a Comment