#winning

Winning. To win means that you've beaten everyone. You've out-maneuvered the competition and you have been hailed the undisputed victor. You've worked longer hours, studied harder or practised more and so now you of course get to enjoy the spoils of being declared the ultimate best - no playing second fiddle for spectacularly brilliant you.

So what happens if you were bested by someone rightfully better than you? Or if you got passed over for that promotion that you have been coveting for the past 18 months? Does it mean that you've lost? That you're a loser?

I recently participated in a virtual quiz competition with some utterly fabulous people where the prizes had been a round of cocktails (do you see why they're utterly fabulous?). After a few weeks of post-work evening calls I scooped second place and happened to have mentioned this to a friend. His immediate response was an outburst of disregard for claiming runner-up status and an onslaught of taunts about how I didn't quite win.

Now I'm pretty sure that this was all said in jest, but it's kind of scary to think that this is the reaction that most people seem to have to concept of winning. You either win or lose. There's no in between. Winning is good. Not winning equates to losing which is bad.

Just to be clear I'm in no way advocating for participation medals. There's far too much mediocrity in the world as it is so I'm not about to campaign that we start rewarding this behaviour/way of life/mentality that, if you ask me ,could very well be the reason us humans one day become extinct.

If this is starting to sound a little confusing and contradictory then perhaps it's time to re-consider the morning G&T habit that you've picked up. My advice is that you drop the tonic and introduce some champers, simple syrup and fresh lemon juice so that you're instead drinking a French 75. The guys at Thrillist also think it's a great morning drink.

So my stance on this is that not winning doesn't make you a loser. You're a loser if you didn't sign up to participate, if you just showed up and didn't bother to actually compete - essentially if you didn't try. You're also a loser if you don't absolutely love drinking the chocolatey milk left over from a bowl of Coco Pops.