Thursday; June 15

Until Cal Ripken broke his record, Lou Gehrig held the record for most consecutive major league baseball games played. Cal had more than 500 more games in his streak – which is impressive – but before Mr. Oriole came on the scene, Gehrig, the original Iron Man, had an almost 800 game lead on Everett Scott. When you get into that type of rarified air you would think that winning would be a catalyst for that type of record; however, Gehrig didn’t necessarily see it that way. In one quote he observed, “I love to win; but I love to lose almost as much. I love the thrill of victory, and I also love the challenge of defeat.”. While that sounds a little wishy-washy, I do see some wisdom in his processing. If the love of winning is what keeps us going, a decent losing streak will suck the drive out of us. However, if we find something to learn from both winning and losing, we will always have something to keep us going! It is the process more than the results that keeps things interesting.
Are we so focused on being successful that we miss the value of playing the game of life? Let’s enjoy our successes, but never get too discouraged that we don’t learn something from every result we get. When we find value in everything we do, it will keep us engaged and contented.

Think About It! 

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