To Win, Be Willing To Lose

This year, because it was my senior year, everyone was looking into colleges and making final decisions about their studies. But what was shocking was the fact that so many of my classmates were not willing to try out.  They knew what they wanted, but they were not willing to work for it. They were fixated that they will not get in the college they want because they are not good enough. Or because the competition is very tough. And that really pissed me off. One of my own best friends was afraid that she might not be able to handle the responsibility of becoming a Doctor. I think, being a human being is the biggest responsibility. Because life itself is a competition. Its the biggest race there ever is.

I was watching a movie, involving a figure skater and her life and one of the characters says, "To win, you have to be willing to lose." What makes a winner, a winner is losing the first 100 times. Losing does not mean giving up. It just means working harder. For me, in order to win, whether it is Olympic Gymnastics or a History test, you have to be willing to try your best. Work your butt off, wake up when its still dark and work on your piques or learn the French proverbs. You have to be willing to push yourself, to let yourself go out there. And you have to be willing to face your fears and failures. . 

I remember when I was doing five sports at once in 5th grade. There were before school practices, after school practices and weekend practices. I used to eat on the way. And then I wanted to do Skipping as well. It was something I had never done before and a friend of mine was excellent at it. The first time I did skipping, I did 25 turns. Then I started working on it and in the competition, came second and I did 250 turns. I nailed it. That rush of adrenaline pumping through my body, my face all flushed and my coach telling me to go change for the next sport, it was surreal. 

My mom always says that you do not get anything handed to you on a silver platter. Figure skaters, gymnasts, swimmers, etc turn their whole lives around just to get a single gold medal. For them normal is not a word. A Gymnast lands on her butt 100 times a day, yet she still gets up and then nails her routine. They do all that just to stand on that podium, wear that Gold Medal and be called an Olympian. I used to see Gymnastics with  my Nano and I always wondered how beautiful, bold, graceful and enchanting they look. But none of us get to see the purple bruises all over their bodies, some brand new, some days old, bags under their eyes and hands hard as a rock. Those injuries are what make them capable of winning. 

Like Iqbal said, 

"Tu shaheen hai Parwaaz hai kaam tera  

Tere samne Aasman aur bhi hai"

Work for it. Work till you fall. Pick yourself up. Fall again. And then again and again. Than pick yourself up again. And keep picking yourself up till you forget what falling is. Work for it, till every bone in your body wants what your heart desires. Till every damn muscle aches and all the ice packs in the world cannot make that pain disappear. This is your fight, only and only yours. With your demons of fears and failures. And only you can defeat those demons. 

...SAP...