The Aim-Victory Or What?

The handsome and fabulous hero starring in Harold Robin’s the adventure was playing polo. He came out of the field with a smile on his face, having displayed a very aggressive game. He told his father, ‘I play to win’. These four words looked very dashing in the movies. The males who saw it got a sense of motivation. The female wished for such a man as their life partner. But what intrigued me was the question, was it possible for a normal individual to always afford to play to win? The world impossible promptly emerged from my mind.

It is a normal observation that two people in this world can have exactly the same amount of talent, intelligence, capacity to work, physique, drive and other human characteristics. Inequality is the law of nature. There are people who have high mental capacities but purposely or because of lack of ability stay away from sports and extra-curricular activities. Mediocre are always there. We also find people who are no good in any field along with those, who make their mark in many spheres.
Nevertheless one general rule persists, “Nobody is good at everything”. Being on the top in every field is just out of the reach of an individual, no matter how talented and trained he might be. When one is aspiring for the highest place, it is honorable to reach the second or even the third rank.

I strongly believe that whenever one takes part in a competition whether it is related to physical prowess or mental excellence “Victory should never be aim”. The aim should be maximum possible achievement by preparing oneself for the maximum possible struggle. Half the things in which people do not succeed are through fear of making an attempts and losing. Man never gets what he want, because what he wants is everything. Everybody sets out to do something and everybody does something but no one does everything. It is good plan to aim a little higher than your target so as to make your shot sure, but not so high that you overshoot the mark.

In every competition there is only one winner. The rest are all losers. But if runner up, after trying his best feels maudlin on losing, all that he will get out of it frustration. And frustration; can break even the best of men. Defeat should never be source of discouragement but rather a fresh stimulus. Victory is not measured with the yard stick of medals and certificates. Rather it is the peaking of mind and body, the intense strife and a sense of pride. If an individuals has put in the maximum effort he is a winner, whether he is the first or last by the rules.

The fact that one can never win without participating, must be kept in mind. One has to participate in order to win and whenever one participates in a competition the probability of losing is greater than the probability of wining. If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest. A journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step. No body reaches the top of a mountain without starting the climb from the bottom of the valley. So every well contested defeat is a positive step towards victory or at least the first step to something better.

If a competitor, who has entered a competition to win, starts losing he will be off balance and might stop struggling. But if the competitors who has entered the competition to put in the greatest possible effort starts losing he remains normal for he is trying his best and that is his aim.Success in the majority of circumstances depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed. Defeat discourages the weak and doubles the strength of brave people.

In different famous International Institute every student has to box once. Besides other prizes there is also an award for the ‘Best Loser’. It is awarded to that loser who has put into maximum possible effort in the face of defeat. So it is not the triumph but the struggle that matters. The person getting the award of the ‘Best Loser’ cannot profess to have attained success, but he can proudly claim to have attempted it with his heart and soul.

Significance of following words:

• Montaigne’s words: “There are some defeats more triumphant than victories”.

• Joe Paterno words: "What count in sports is not the victory, but the magnificence of the struggle".

• Joseph Joubert words: "The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress".

• Steve Jobs words: "You had nothing to lose and everything to gain".