All about Winning

An excerpt from Deccan Herald.

Question: All this talk about winning makes me wonder: Is there any place for losers in this world? Only a small percentage of people succeed. What should all the non-winners do, just kill themselves?
-- S Gopal, Bangalore

Answer : What a question - it has to mean that, you see winning in purely economic terms. That's just not how it has to be. We think about winning another way - as setting personal goals and achieving them, and (just as important) enjoying the experience on the way. Winning has nothing - or everything - to do with your job.

Yes, you can win as a corporate executive, but you can win just as meaningfully as a carpenter, math teacher or singer in a wedding band. You can win raising a family, caring for your parents or being a good friend - as long as those are the dreams you picked for yourself. Indeed, the biggest winners in the world are those who answer "Yes" to the question, "Am I living the life I choose?"

One of the biggest winners we know is a person whom, by your economic definition, would probably not qualify at all. James O'Connell graduated from Harvard Medical School. But instead of pursuing a prestigious and lucrative career, he has spent the past 22 years driving a van around Boston practically every night, delivering medical care to the homeless. He lives simply; money doesn't matter to him. And yet O'Connell's life is full of joy, and he is loved by everyone lucky enough to know him, from street people to senators.

Look, winning and losing can't be quantified. They are states of mind, and losing only happens when you give up. Seen that way, then, the world can be filled with winners, and there is room for them all.