Would You Do It Again?

So Mike Tyson beat the hell out of you, and you hear “Ding Ding Ding”. You go back to your corner in the boxing ring, knowing that you have to face the same guy again, in the next round. You are probably thinking “This guy will make a pulp out of me”.

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever lost a contest? Have you ever given up on yourself? I have.

November 2007, Mangalore, I had lost the first District Contest of my life. It was so easy to put the blame on someone else: the Judges were unfair, the weather was just too humid, the stage didn’t like me, the food was too spicy, the other contestants were cuter looking. Oh I could blame just about anything, but the reality was, I was just not that good.

So I decided, I am not going to participate again, ever.

That phase lasted for about 3 hours, till I stepped out for dinner with a friend and fellow contestant who had lost as well. Over dinner we spoke about our strategies, our strengths, our weaknesses, and the disappointment and despair at not winning. Tears came and tears went and soon we found ourselves laughing at what we had done, and what the other contestants had done. We spoke of the good times we had while preparing, the fun and the learning. We talked about the experience, and that had been grand, and then my friend asked me a seemingly innocent question: “Would you do it again?”

It was then that I realized, we all fail, at different stages in our lives, but we still go on. Like a child who learns how to walk for the first time, falls, gets up tries to walk, falls again, stands up again, tries to walk again, and keeps falling till he finally learns how to walk without falling.

For the sake of the win, for the sake of the experience, for the sake of the fun in the preparation, and probably for the sake of proving to myself that I could, I did do it again. Whether I won or lost is immaterial, because I did win friends, and the self-confidence and I did win myself the right to pen this story down.

Over the last few years, I have realized, that sometimes it’s okay to tell people “I am sad because I lost” or “It hurts”, it’s okay to let people see your tears, and it’s okay to have a long face. In my opinion, it shows you are strong enough to openly talk about your feelings. Whatever you do, do not quit, here are a few lines from my favourite poem:

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup,

And he learnt too late when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

So, rise and shine, and hone your skill, strategise for strength alone may fail. Go for it again, another contest season is just round the corner, can you hear the “Ding Ding Ding?”