Humans are funny creatures. To one degree or another, we are all guilty of what I am about to decribe. We might as well accept the fact that sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. The problem is that in doing so, sometimes we are not very nice and sometimes we are even, dare I say, jerks. I propose that in our winning and losing cycles we all have the disturbing ability to utilize all kinds of selective memory devices to insulate ourselves from reality. This is your chance to laugh at yourself for your own gamesmanship in the sometimes joyous and other times cruel world of partiality.
So, it goes like this--your team wins a big game or competition. A wand or something magical is waved across the universe and, incredibly, you and all like-minded victors transform into the kings or queens of the hill (and maybe even tyrants of sorts in some cases). Or, maybe your political party gloriously surges to a mighty majority in a November election sweep, trouncing the other party and proving you were on the right side of the issues all along. Similar statements can be made for other life examples when you are on top of the world--your surging stock porfolio, your award-winning performances, your first-in-class kids or grandkids who can do no wrong, your well-toned body earned by superior dedication to exercise and disciplined eating, or your high paying job and nice home that are both recession and layoff-proof because, after all, you have worked so hard. You get the point.
Today, in the moment of victory, you get to enjoy yourself with pride. You get to exercise your well-earned bragging rights, strut your stuff, and rub (metaphorically I hope) the victory or success in the faces of any adversary who is in any way on the losing side. "We're number one!" "We're Number One!" "See you next time losers." By all appearances, being on the winning side of life's little contests is akin to getting a badge of honor to wear proudly in your glory. In this modern world you even get to go online and gloat in the social media and pour salt on the wounds of the defeated and the deflated.
Through all of this process, miraculously in nearly all winning circumstances, selective short-term or even long-term memory blocking devices kick in to shelter us from the full realites of the past. Somehow last year's or last week's humiliating loss dissolves away as though it never happened. The pain of past electoral suffering is forgotten. Our stock losses, job struggles, and previous modest apartment living vanish in our minds as though we have only and always been on top of the world. During the high, it's all euphoric. The pleasure is intense. Our memories of bygone days fade away.
Then comes reality. The fall back to earth is always on the horizon. One way or another, we will eventually and regularly be back to eating humble pie after tasting sweet glory for a time. Sure, it's good for us to relish our successes or the winning of those we love and admire, but just remember, whatever we dish out will come back to us someday, often two-fold or more. We reap what we sow. What goes around, always comes around again to kick us in the behind.
Without exception, the day of redemption comes when your beloved gladiators will lose and likely lose badly. It will hurt and you will want sympathy but you will likely find that there is precious little help to be found, especially if you celebrated too loudly when luck was on your side. The others like you on the losing side of the new epic battle can't and won't help you because they will likewise be numb and confused. You will have to cry in lonely silence while the new victors start their own victory lap. Then we start the cycle all over again.
Sure, we get lucky and once in a while we get on a magical streak that makes us so superior to everyone around us that others, frankly, hate our guts. Still, whether you are a Yankee, UCLA Bruin, Pittsburgh Steeler, Republican or Democrat, there is always an end to the short-term glory and a weeping and wailing to follow. That is life's pattern and there is nothing we can do about it...except, be good sports, have fun but not take ourselves too seriously, recognize the value of all sides in any battle, value the competition and the competitors, enjoy the event and be a dignified, gracious winners, not sore losers. Luckily the laws of nature always win--what goes up, must come down; you reap what you sow, what goes around comes around.
So, it goes like this--your team wins a big game or competition. A wand or something magical is waved across the universe and, incredibly, you and all like-minded victors transform into the kings or queens of the hill (and maybe even tyrants of sorts in some cases). Or, maybe your political party gloriously surges to a mighty majority in a November election sweep, trouncing the other party and proving you were on the right side of the issues all along. Similar statements can be made for other life examples when you are on top of the world--your surging stock porfolio, your award-winning performances, your first-in-class kids or grandkids who can do no wrong, your well-toned body earned by superior dedication to exercise and disciplined eating, or your high paying job and nice home that are both recession and layoff-proof because, after all, you have worked so hard. You get the point.
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| To the Victors Go the Spoils (for now) |
Today, in the moment of victory, you get to enjoy yourself with pride. You get to exercise your well-earned bragging rights, strut your stuff, and rub (metaphorically I hope) the victory or success in the faces of any adversary who is in any way on the losing side. "We're number one!" "We're Number One!" "See you next time losers." By all appearances, being on the winning side of life's little contests is akin to getting a badge of honor to wear proudly in your glory. In this modern world you even get to go online and gloat in the social media and pour salt on the wounds of the defeated and the deflated.
Through all of this process, miraculously in nearly all winning circumstances, selective short-term or even long-term memory blocking devices kick in to shelter us from the full realites of the past. Somehow last year's or last week's humiliating loss dissolves away as though it never happened. The pain of past electoral suffering is forgotten. Our stock losses, job struggles, and previous modest apartment living vanish in our minds as though we have only and always been on top of the world. During the high, it's all euphoric. The pleasure is intense. Our memories of bygone days fade away.
Then comes reality. The fall back to earth is always on the horizon. One way or another, we will eventually and regularly be back to eating humble pie after tasting sweet glory for a time. Sure, it's good for us to relish our successes or the winning of those we love and admire, but just remember, whatever we dish out will come back to us someday, often two-fold or more. We reap what we sow. What goes around, always comes around again to kick us in the behind.
Without exception, the day of redemption comes when your beloved gladiators will lose and likely lose badly. It will hurt and you will want sympathy but you will likely find that there is precious little help to be found, especially if you celebrated too loudly when luck was on your side. The others like you on the losing side of the new epic battle can't and won't help you because they will likewise be numb and confused. You will have to cry in lonely silence while the new victors start their own victory lap. Then we start the cycle all over again.
Sure, we get lucky and once in a while we get on a magical streak that makes us so superior to everyone around us that others, frankly, hate our guts. Still, whether you are a Yankee, UCLA Bruin, Pittsburgh Steeler, Republican or Democrat, there is always an end to the short-term glory and a weeping and wailing to follow. That is life's pattern and there is nothing we can do about it...except, be good sports, have fun but not take ourselves too seriously, recognize the value of all sides in any battle, value the competition and the competitors, enjoy the event and be a dignified, gracious winners, not sore losers. Luckily the laws of nature always win--what goes up, must come down; you reap what you sow, what goes around comes around.
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