You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out.
Everyday I read a blog written by my friend Marty Holman. Marty is a popular minister in a local church and a heck of a basketball player. He and I have become friends after playing together on a basketball team for the past few years. There are many reasons I enjoy being around Marty, among them is the fact that he challenges me to think. Don’t take that the wrong way, Marty does not push nor even wear his religion on his sleeve. Instead, he lives his life trying to be more Christ-like without telling everyone how virtuous he is.
This past Tuesday, after reading Marty’s reflection on a game we had lost the previous evening, I began to think about losing. In life, losing is inevitable. While coaching at Wachusett, we put together a forty game winning streak. My players gained so much confidence that we wound up winning games even when it looked for sure like we would lose. The streak started toward the end of one season, continued through an entire season the following year, and into a third season. It just felt like we would never lose again. Of course, we did. I didn’t sleep for two nights. I hate to lose.
Marty’s post made me start thinking about losing in areas other than just sports. As I have grown older, my interest in politics and the world around me has grown. Age has also found me becoming more conservative than in my younger days. Officially registered as unenrolled, lately I have been supporting Republicans more than Democrats. While I respect everyone who steps into the political arena for the right reasons, I lean more toward smaller government and less spending. I have moved to the right of the younger Bogey.
Then came President Obama.
There has not been a political leader I have feared more than President Obama. His beliefs are opposite of mine on almost every major issue. President Obama was recently quoted that he believes our government must spend our way out of this recession in which we are currently mired. Combine that with health care reform and Cap and Trade, it won’t be long before we will be reflecting on the days when our national debt was only 12 trillion dollars. Sorry, I don’t mean to preach.
The point is this, on November 4, 2008 conservative thinking Americans, such as myself, had to face losing.
Watching how people face losing has interested me for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, I was what one might call a very poor loser. I hated losing and let everyone know it every time I found myself on the losing end of any contest. It appears many adults today are much like the child I once was. There are people attacking the president on every front, including personal. Let’s face it, nobody likes to lose.
I don’t pray nearly enough, but I have turned to prayer to help me deal with losing. I pray for our new president and the people with whom he has surrounded himself. I pray for our nation to recover from this recession and to return to the glory we once enjoyed. I pray for our military personnel putting their lives on the line each day for the safety of American citizens around the world.
Most of all, I pray that I am wrong. Maybe the president’s ideas are the right way to go. Maybe he can pull us out of the recession and then reduce the national debt without inflation going through the roof. Perhaps we can strengthen our position in the world while not being a big supporter of the armed forces. He is my President and I will pray his decisions are correct.
If not, I’ll pray he loses on Tuesday, November 6, 2012!
Speaking of sore losers, take a look at the clip below. Is this really how some people pray? Let’s pray this guy’s prayers are not answered.
