Everyday Can't Be a Win

I didn't feel like eating. Normally stopping at McDonald's after a basketball game was a big treat for our team, because it rarely ever happened. This was different, because we'd just lost in the state sectional playoff game. We thought we were going to win state, but just like that, our season was over.

I was a junior in high school. My friend Jermaine, our starting center, said something that I'll never forget. It went something like, "Nobody is gonna care about us now that the season is over because we didn't win state." At Scott County Central, not winning state was considered an absolute failure. You either hung up another banner or you didn't. We didn't, but was Jermaine right?

I pondered that for the next several days. Then somebody gave me this quote. I wish I could remember who... My Mom? My Aunt Lisa? I can't remember, but it resonated with me then, and it still does today.

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

That is from the poem IF, by Rudyard Kipling. I love the entire poem, but that line, "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same" stuck with me. That is a powerful concept. Win or lose, you have to keep moving forward either way. That is so, so, so true.

So as we're all waking up today, some of us are coming off of a big win. Some of us are coming off of a crushing defeat. This is true if you're an athlete, a mom, a dad, a person just working for a living, or somebody striving for something better in your life.

Everyday can't be a win. I talk about "Just Win Today," but I'm not naive enough to believe that I never have a bad day, never suffer a setback, have never had my heart broke, never had my feelings hurt, or never had to bounce back from a tough loss. I've suffered all of those things. For everybody reading this, so have you.

So what do you do when today isn't a WIN, when today is a LOSS? Do you treat Triumph and Disaster the same? In other words, do you celebrate the wins a little too much, for a little too long? Do you let the losses crush you? Do you feel sorry for yourself?

The trick to being successful in life and making yourself happy (because nobody can make you happy but you, right?) is to treat your wins and losses the same. That's an easy thing to say, but a hard thing to do. But it's really what JUST WIN TODAY is all about. If today was a win, GREAT! Enjoy it for a minute and then move on. If today was a loss, don't dwell on it. Get back up. Get back out there. Try again.

Because if you're going to put yourself out there... as an athlete, in a relationship, maybe you're trying to change jobs with the hope of something better, etc... you're taking a risk that it might not be a WIN. It might not go your way. You might lose. You might get your heart broke. You might get your feelings hurt. You might strike out and have to start all over. It's like my man Zac Brown says in his song Natural Disaster, "Makes the loneliest heart wonder if the ride is worth the pain."

The answer is yes. Always yes.

My son Trey asks me these great questions all the time. He's fun to debate with. He recently asked me, "Dad, if all you do is JUST WIN TODAY, then you're only winning for one day. What are you going to do tomorrow?" I said, "Trey, guess what day tomorrow is?" He smiled and said, "Tomorrow it will be today again."

He's a smart boy. He gets it.

So if yesterday was your biggest win ever, or if it was a painful loss... If it marked the beginning of something new, or you're turning the page and starting a new chapter of your life...

Today is a brand new day. So get out there and meet Triumph and Disaster just the same, and Just Win Today.

#JWT #JoinTheRevolution