The Poor and The Rich...

_{Jill Wellington}

---

In this day and age, it is not unusual at all to hear people say the phrase, “there are no winners and there are no losers.” This is something that is especially said when there is a sort of completion and there are prizes to be won. It is a way of making everyone feel good whether they get to go home with the prize or not.

And then, for those that don’t win, in many cases we see that they are given participatory prizes or consolation prizes. At least, if you didn’t win the first, second, or third prize, then you could win the consolation prize at least. And even if that was difficult as well, you would get the participatory prize. Either way, you get to win something and you do not go home empty-handed.

This is the tactic many of us are employing these days, especially when working with children. And I have to say this; I believe that in the long run, all this is a bad idea.

While the reason might be great and all, even noble to an extent. We don’t want people feeling bad or excluded, we don’t want them to feel like they are a failure and can never make it. We want them to always believe that they are winners, no matter what they go through in life. But alas, this approach is not helping them at all. And I will talk about it.

_{Anna Tarazevich}

There is one thing with this form of mentality, and it is the fact that we are only teaching the children how to win. You might wonder, isn’t that the point? But then, to really become upstanding individuals in the society, to really have their lives under control to the last cent, we also have to teach them how to lose as well. It is definitely not what everyone can do.

From a young age, people have to know that losing is a part of life as much as winning is. It is impossible to always be winning and never losing. Whenever there is a competition, there will always be a winner and a loser. That is how it has always been, and that is how it will continue to be. So now, telling the children that they are also winners as well even when they clearly failed, and on top of that, giving the prizes as well, it won’t augur well for them at all.

One of the worst things to happen to a person is not knowing how to accept failures or losses. It is very bad indeed, always blaming others, always having an excuse as to why you didn’t get it. There will always be a million reasons why it was not your fault. You were cheated, the game was rigged… And so much more.

But then, when you have mastered the art of handling failures and losses, you will find it easier to rise above the failures, rise above them all and soar into the sky as you keep on chasing your dreams.

_{RUN 4 FFWPU}

The world is changing now, and so many things that were once deemed harmless to say have now taken on a whole new meaning. And saying them can be deemed as being insensitivity. People are now watching everything they say, securitizing. But then, it’s just the world, and we are in it for now.

So, while this post is not supported by any medical or statistical fact, I do believe that if we teach our children how it feels to lose from time to time, they will be able to hide it better. And when they finally do make it, it will be a mind-blowing success.

But until then, we are keeping our fingers crossed until then.

_{RUN 4 FFWPU}

---

---

_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.}