Two Ways To, And Two Ways To Loose

Why are we here?” Former Football player Billy Anglin asked.

“Yeah,” Football Hall of Famer Tomas Colden adds.

Journalist Joseph Brighton invites, “sit down, gentlemen. WCC news is willing to pay you for this interview.”

“Ok,” Billy agrees.

Tomas nods then asks, “I still want to know why I am here?”

Easing comfortably in his leather armchair, Joseph shares, “I was interviewing a young athlete last week, and he said something that forced me to think of you two.”

“And,” Billy initiates.

“According to history, you won all of your games when you started playing,” he refreshed Billy’s memory.

“Yea,” Billy beamed with pride. “I was great.”

“Was,” Tomas reminded him. “Then you stopped winning.”

“And you,” Joseph pointed to Tomas, watching Billy’s anger rising as his face turned red, “lost many games before you started winning. But your winning streak lasts longer than Billy’s. How come?”

“That’s why you brought us here?” Billy’s anger explodes.

The reporter shrugged his shoulders and reminded him, “we are paying you for this interview.”

Sensing the anger, Tomas quickly releases, “my grandmother often said, ‘there are two ways to win and two ways to lose.”

“Which way is mine?” Billy demands.

Eyeing him in annoyance, Tomas continued. “She said winning first could be your greatest loss. And losing first could be your greatest victory.”

“So winning first is my greatest loss?” Billy asks, his thoughts slipping back more than twenty years.

Tomas continues, “She said some of us win first and keep on winning for a while. Then we start losing because we stop maintaining our victory.”

“So that’s why I lost?” Billy said. “I stopped maintaining my victory.”

Tomas nodded in agreement and related, “She said it is good to keep losing first because the lessons learned from loss will help maintain victory.”

“Damn!” Shot from Billy’s mouth.

Two pairs of eyes stared at him for a second. “I stopped winning because I have never tasted loss. So, I wouldn’t have known the difference,” he commented in realization.

“Well,” Tomas asserted. “That’s not what I was going to say, but that’s what it meant. Yes, competitor, immediate success denied you the opportunity to taste the pain and agony of failure. So you had nothing to stop you from losing.”

“So victory wasn’t enough,” slipped from Billy’s thoughts, and the two men agreed.

“Some of us win first, then lose. Others lose first, then win. Winning/success must be maintained because loss/failure is a fight for life for many. Failing first is how many of us maintain success,” Tomas said.

“Loss has a horrible taste, in contrast to victory,” Joseph reminded both men.

“Oh, yes,” both former athletes agreed.

“So that’s your secret to being a winner?” Joseph continues.

“It’s my grandmother’s secret,” he shared. “God rest her soul. She was the one who coached me on the value and importance of losing first. She said it’s ok to lose first because a loss will prepare me for victory.”

“What does victory prepare you for?” Billy asked.

Turning to get eye contact, Tomas sent Billy back more than twenty years into his past, “When you won your first Superbowl, how did you feel?”.

“I was in heaven. It’s a feeling you never want to let go,” Billy said as his anger slipped away and the past took over.

“And when you lost your first one, how did you feel?”

“I was in hell, and that is a feeling you want to let go,” Billy shared, easing back into the present.

“Success must be maintained, Billy boy. You failed to do that, and that’s how you lose.”

“And you won because your grandmother helped you maintain success while fighting failure?” Billy asked with a look that said, why didn’t I know this twenty years ago?

“Yes,” Tomas said with pride as happy memories of his late grandmother seeped into his thoughts. “She said success and failure feast on different foods, and both need to be fed.”

For some of us, winning/success is the end of the game. Others, losing/failure, are the beginning of the game. Success must be maintained. Failure must be fought. Both must be fed. They don’t eat from the same pot.

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoy it and will taste more from some talented writers on this platform.

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