“It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning’s winning.”
My dad used to say this every time I was salty about barely winning a board game, or getting the highest marks by only one point. I always thought, “wow, how philosophical”. It wasn't until quarantine had me rewatching the fast and furious series did I realise its a quote from Dominic Toretto in The Fast and The Furious.
Reality Check.
For as long as I can remember, I've won. I won competitions, elections, got the most marks, won all the ludo games (granted I conned my younger siblings, but winning’s winning). The thought of failure petrified me. Anything below 16/20 was unsatisfactory. And since studying was a priority, that was never a problem. I was a sore loser.
It wasn't until the second year of O-levels that I was a fish out of water. With the workload piling up, and things going haywire in every aspect of my life, I had to prioritise, and finally let my grades slip. It came with repercussions of course. Teachers were suddenly not looking at me as their star student but as distracted. Off the rails. A lost cause. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating, it wasn't that bad. But it was bad.
Of Course the overall percentage drop was alarming to me, but I knew that I had been getting grades my whole life, when the time came, I’ll get them again. And that feeling was exhilarating. I know it seems like a trivial thing to you as a reader, but not only did this decrease stress, but also allowed me to live my life more fully, to take more risks, to accept that failure is a thing, it happens, no big deal. We live and we learn.
The point of this incredibly long, kinda patronising, self appreciating monologue being, do not dedicate your life to one thing and one thing only. Trying new things is always a little scary, stepping out of your comfort zone always difficult. But what's the most that can happen? You’ll fail? You’ll hate it? So? You did yourself a favour and got rid of the what if..
So live, laugh and be kind. And don't forget countless opportunities await you. If you can't find them, create your own.
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