Tonight I was flipping through the channels before settling on a dance between CNN and something “sports”…. my usual MO.  I happened upon one of those talent shows.

Not like the talent shows of yore.  No.  Back in the day, people with talent, like Carol Burnett, and Lily Tomlin, and The Jackson Five… those sorts of people…. got up on stage and sang… and made you laugh.  Those were talent shows.

Now, a talent show is more like some glam and glitter open mic night for money.

At any rate, I stopped briefly on one of these… “The XOXO Factor” or “The Big Voice” or “Simon Says”… I don’t know for sure. A young, pretty girl smiled bravely, and waved to the crowd.  She must have gotten voted off by America, or the judges, or the sponsor.  So, as she gave her brightest grin, the MC asked her…”Any last words?”  (What the heck?  Was she dying too?)

To which she so profoundly responded…..  “Just remember.  You don’t have to win to be a winner.”

What?  What is this?  You don’t have to win to be a winner?  I was shocked by this news…. this…. this… this ultimate revelation.  I ran for my tattered Webster’s Dictionary.

Win.

verb ( wins, winning ; past and past participle won |wən, wän| ) 1 be successful or victorious in (a contest or conflict)
2 acquire or secure as a result of a contest, conflict, bet, or other endeavor

Hmmmm.  What did this girl know that Webster and I hadn’t looked in on?

I mean.  I know that winning all the time isn’t possible.  And, it isn’t always important.  But you don’t have to win to be a winner.  I better look up winner.

Winner.

noun
• a person or thing that wins something
• a goal or shot that wins a winner or point.
• Bridge a card that can be relied on to win a trick.
• informal a thing that is a success or is likely to be successful

Nope.  It seems that a winner is a winner.

So I thought further.

Maybe there are times when we don’t win the “apparent” competition.  We don’t score enough runs.  We don’t get enough questions correct.  Or we don’t get enough votes.  Whatever the case may be.   But maybe, as a result of our “loss”… we “win” somewhere else.

Take the world famous example of The Great Parcheesi Incident of 1938.  Now that is a classic paradigm of this paradox.  Yes.  Floyd McClarington clearly lost the match.  And through that  amazing chain of events which transpired over the next eight days… he became a Billionaire.  Daddy Warbucks.

Very few people know that Daddy Warbuck’s real name is Floyd McClarington.  But it is.  And who knew  Eugene Trewell’s General Store Attic would play such a key role in the whole story…. I mean… that Holstein being up there an all.

But there it is.

Daddy Warbuck’s won.  And he wasn’t the winner.  Annie won too…. years later… when Floyd decided to adopt.  And the cow… she made it back to the Holstein Ranch for the Gifted.

Full Circle.

Just remember… there’s a winner in you…. that really isn’t a winner… but manages to win any old how.

“If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are … a different game you should play.” – Yoda, Jedi Master