It’s Monday so that must mean time for a spot of motivation from me! It’s been another frantically busy week…I am starting to wonder when things might actually slow down in our lives! We seriously never stop. Whenever I get a chance to scroll through Instagram I see pictures of people enjoying lazy Sundays watching movies or at the park and we never seem to have time for that anymore. I have decided that next Sunday is going to 100% be a day of rest! We need to slow down the pace a little, even if it is just for one day. To be honest though, even at this manic pace I do feel like we are winning at life right now. Lots of things have been going our way and 2018 is set to be a good one!
I thought winning would be a pretty good topic for today’s Monday Motivation. Anyone that knows me will know that I am a hugely competitive person. Most would probably tell you that is an understatement! I have had to try to tone it down slightly where the children are concerned and try to teach them that winning isn’t everything and that it’s all about the taking part, but deep inside I am all about the winning! My head tells me that teaching children that winning isn’t important is the right thing to do but at what point do we say, actually, you should be competing to win. It’s fine to want to win and it’s also ok to be disappointed if you don’t (as long as you don’t show it!)?
I learnt about Vince Lombardi when I was at University. He was an Italian/American football player and coach in the NFL. He is best known for being the head coach for the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s and led them to 5 NFL Championships in just 7 years. Lombardi is considered by many to have been the greatest coach in American Football history. There aren’t many things I remember from my 3 years study but the Lombardian ethic has always stuck in my head. ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing’ – it’s been my mantra for as long as I can remember and whether it be a raffle at a school concert or a running race against the children then I want to win it! I am not the sort of parent that lets my kids win – no way! Unfortunately this means family games do not always end well! Someone is bound to end up stropping off – usually me or Archie (we are similar in so many ways!).
The feeling that winning brings is unlike any other. It’s something that starts from deep inside you and radiates out. When you win something you feel it for the rest of the day and it is magical. Ok I’m not talking raffles and tombolas here but to win something significant makes you feel like you could conquer the world! I’m not sure where my love of winning and competitive streak comes from as I can’t remember ever winning much as a child. I am the youngest of four by 10 years so I guess that may have something to do with it but at school I was never a high flyer in anything and so winning wasn’t a thing I ever really experienced.
This weekend I experienced that winning high with the wonderful choir I sing with. It brought to mind another of Lombardi’s famous quotes:
The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual
Our choir rehearses every Wednesday evening and I so look forward to going every week and having a good old sing with some really lovely ladies. We have done a few concerts over the years but on Saturday we were entered into the Community Choirs section of the Oundle Festival. It was quite a daunting experience for everyone, to put our little choir out there to be judged. Not a single one of us, even me, expected to win! We had some stiff competition and were utterly shocked to be chosen as winners, especially in our first festival. I wish I could have recorded our reactions! All of us left the event with huge smiles and that feeling of elation that only winning can bring.
So I’m carrying that feeling with me as my motivation this week. I think celebrating our victories, however small they may be, is so important. As you get older the opportunities for winning become less and less so any opportunity you get, grab it and sing it from the rooftops! It feels great to be a winner!
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