Laura

It’s homecoming week, and my university has gone positively insane with inter-club rivalry and competition.  Now I’m not completely knocking competition (I think it encourages work ethic, ingenuity, and self-improvement), but it seems that more often that not, at least in the context of clubs, it devolves into bad attitudes and bitterness.  I’m not calling out any one group, because let’s be real, everyone gets angry and says and does things they shouldn’t.

I’m not immune.  My powder puff football team played three games yesterday and lost every single one.  In fact, we never so much as scored a touchdown.  At first I was discouraged and upset.

It’s nice to win.  It’s nice to feel like your hard work has paid off.  But it’s also nice to be able to have fun and not worry about winning or feel pressure or get upset.

Because when I lose, I’m humbled, and I’ve found that humility is a prerequisite to love.

By the end of the evening, I found myself playing not to win, but for the sake of the game.  I focused on the little victories - a sack here, a 3rd down stop there - and laughed at the boys dressed up as cheerleaders.  I had fun, and I left the field feeling confident that I’d played my best (even if my best still wasn’t very good) and kept my cool.

If losing is what I need to learn to love better, then God, please make me a loser.  
And maybe one day that will evolve into becoming a gracious winner.  Or maybe not.  But that’s not the point.