Winning Isn’t the Whole Story
With playoff season in full swing, it feels like everyone is watching the same thing unfold, the thrill of a big win, the heartbreak of a tough loss. One team celebrates, with confetti flying and arms raised high. Another walks off the field, heads bowed, dreams deferred. It made me think there is a story worth honoring on both sides.
Because winning and losing aren’t opposites the way we often think they are. They’re companions and teachers. Invitations to learn something deeper about who we are and how we show up, not just in sports, but in life.
I remember learning this lesson long before playoffs and scoreboards meant much to me. I was in high school, and more than anything, I wanted to be part of the pom-pom squad, the Sparkettes. They were a spirited dance team, confident, and admired. To me, they represented belonging.
My junior year, I tried out. I practiced. I showed up. I did my very best. My sister, who was a senior at the time, was also trying out. She was prettier, thinner, more outgoing, and I was sure she didn’t want me on the squad with her. When the list was posted, she made it. I didn’t.
I remember the tears. The ache. The quiet devastation that comes when something you want so badly doesn’t work out. It felt like a loss, not just of a spot on a team, but of confidence, of worth, of the story I’d hoped would be mine. But here’s the thing about losing, it doesn’t get the final word unless we let it.
Something in me shifted after that moment. I decided I wasn’t done. I practiced more. I worked harder. I improved my skills. And when senior tryouts came around the following year, I showed up differently, still nervous, but also determined and more confident than I’d ever been. That year, I made the squad.
The joy I felt wasn’t just about winning or finally getting the uniform. It was about persistence and growth. Choosing not to let disappointment define me. I didn’t give up, I kept going. And that’s the story we don’t talk about enough.
We live in a world that celebrates winners loudly and quickly. But losing doesn’t mean greatness isn’t meant for you. Sometimes losing is the long road that shapes you for what’s coming next. Sometimes it’s the moment that teaches you resilience, humility, compassion, or grit.
Winning with grace matters. But losing with grace matters just as much. How we win reveals our character, and how we lose reveals our courage. Both are worth honoring.
As I watch playoff games now, I don’t just see the champions. I see the ones who didn’t make it, the ones who trained just as hard, hoped just as deeply, and still came up short this time. Their story isn’t over. It’s just unfolding differently.
And maybe that’s the real lesson: life isn’t a single season or a single outcome. It’s a series of moments that ask us to keep showing up whether we’re celebrating or regrouping.
You don’t have to win every time to be worthy. You don’t have to succeed immediately to be destined for something meaningful, and you don’t have to have it all figured out to keep moving forward.
So here’s my invitation to you, wherever you find yourself today celebrating a win or sitting with a loss, meet yourself with kindness. Honor the effort. Acknowledge the courage it took to try. And trust that even the moments that feel like setbacks are shaping you in ways you can’t yet see.
Sometimes the most powerful victories come wrapped in disappointment first. And sometimes, the story that matters most isn’t about who won or lost, it’s about who kept going. Keep going. Because winning isn’t the whole picture. Your story is still being written.
xo, Sheryl
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