Lose the Battle, Win the War

No championship is won at the beginning of the season but championships can absolutely be lost. A football team who loses their first 6 games is in a much worse spot than a team that wins 4 of the 6. Sports are a system of outlasting in order to ultimately win. By winning enough early, a team is able to outlast those who fail to do so. The prize is won at the end, not the beginning. Many battles were lost by the United States over the years of the Revolutionary War but a string of decisive victories helped them ultimately win the war. Despite losing at times, victory during “war” is still attainable as long as it remains close enough to grasp. Winning “wars” does not come from constantly winning each battle. Winning comes from outlasting the opponent and winning just enough to deal the final blow. Losing the battle does not mean all is lost when you still have a war to fight.

Losing in periods of your life does not mean you are a loser. Losing in periods of life does not mean you cannot come back to win the war that is life. The war of life is long with many battles. By treating the battles as stepping stones to access improvement, progress, ability, and tests, no matter the outcome, we are able to recoup and come back stronger. Losing does not define what a “loser” is— quitting and giving up do. We can lose multiple “battles” in a row but learn something new after each loss. These learnings will eventually cause us to overcome the mountain of difficulty in our way to see us run through the beautiful valley on the other side. Life is not a ladder, it is a canvas. Our individual canvases boast the tails of our lives, the wins, and the losses. Every battle is a continuation of our war effort to advance, evolve and become better.

Picking the battles we engage with is a strategic endeavor for longevity when pursuing success in different ventures. For a successful marriage or relationship, more oftentimes than not, the better course of action is to take a deep breath and let something go. If we engage in “war” every time something goes awry we are setting ourselves up to have a combative relationship that does not sustain. If our ego bristles when someone says anything contradictory to our beliefs, we do not need to battle every time. Battling will only make us appear as a fiery personality that people do not want to be around. By having boundaries and knowing which battles to engage in, we set ourselves up to be as prepared as possible when the time comes to go to “war.” Lose the battle but keep pushing to win the war.