What's So Great About Losing? by Jane Thurnell-Read

I am currently reading Cloud Atlas, a novel that was short-listed for the Man Booker prize. One of the characters makes an interesting remark about winners and losers that set me thinking.

"So winners ... are the real losers because they learn nothing? What, then, were losers? Winners?" (page 234)

The implication of this is that you can't learn anything by winning. A lot of people who are interested in personal development seem to support this view. Some years ago when I found myself saying once again, "Oh well, at least I'm learning from my mistakes" I decided to change my attitude and make a conscious decision to learn from the positive things in my life rather than only the negative.

This was a big shift in my thinking and view of the world, and I was delighted to notice it had a positive impact on what happened to me - life just got easier.

Recently I have been finding things more of a struggle, and reading this remark on winners and losers made me realise I'd slipped backwards again into that view that things should be difficult, and that losing is somehow ennobling. I've given myself a shake and I'm looking forward to things getting easier again.