Another look at winning

"If you can accept losing, you can't win."

"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm."

"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence."

"Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing."
-quotes from Vince Lombardi, NFL Super Bowl Champion football coach, Green Bay Packers
Most successful coach in football history


Sorry, but Coach Lombardi got the last one only half right. What the football legend's most-famous quote shoulda said is this:

"Winning isn't everything. Winning also means kicking down doors inside your opponent's head and smashing his ego, his will and his self-confidence to pieces."
- p. ridgeback
Marina riff-raff

Winning means more than just finishing first. Winning means sending your opponent away gasping in tears, crying like a little girl for her mommy.

Or maybe that's just me?


Professional Wrestling offers too many lessons not to be taken seriously:

"It takes a real gentleman to kick a man when he's down."
-Ox Baker, 6' 5" 340-lb Professional Wrestler
Creator of the deadly "Heart Punch"

Then there's times when winning is literally a matter of life and death.

"There are no second-place winners in a gunfight."


-Bill Jordan
Author, former U.S. Border Patrol Agent and World Speed Draw Champion

Winning's never easy when victory's worthwhile. You gotta want it ... really want it more than anything else in the world ... and not change your mind along the way, when changing seems fun or convenient.

---

Is there anyone among us who actually enjoys losing? I mean, if you're willing to lose intentionally, if you already know the outcome in advance, then why not just stay on the sidelines, and don't bother getting involved? What's the point of being embarrassed and humiliated ... especially when there's no reward and nothing to gain?

---

You wouldn't imagine a winner would allow himself to be mercilessly taunted and ridiculed by his opponents. You wouldn't think a champion would intentionally hold back while being whipped and flailed by enemies ... especially knowing that crucifixion would be the last play called in the final minutes of the fourth.

We all want to win and come out on top ... if not all the time then at least most of the time. Yet when it mattered the most, the Creator of the universe, the king of kings, willingly chose to lose his life so that we could gain ours.

But see, Christ lost his life knowing who'd win on the third day of Sudden Death Overtime, and his resurrection was the ultimate touch-down bomb to the eternal end zone ... and forever proved we could win and have victory through him.

There's only one victory; it comes through Christ ... and none of us can ultimately win without him.

---
Trying to finish first without Christ, whether it's asserting our personal ambitions at work, stubbornly imposing our needs or our agenda in a dating relationship, dictating our will over a spouse or family member, gloating to acquaintances over our financial rewards, insisting on my way of doing things at church, treating others (especially non-believers) with self-righteous smugness and pride, or thinking it's OK to sin just a little bit when I want to all indicate We're Losers ... because we've ignored the victory we received as a gift through following him.

And that we've chosen to finish second when we didn't have to.