A casual look at the world reveals that there is competition everywhere. This is evident in every area of life ? ranging from games to work, there seem to be one mad rush everywhere when we try to ?succeed?. Often it does not matter to us who perishes while we succeed or ?win?. It does not matter who ?loses? as long as it is not we who lose. This mad rush in every area of life divides the world into winners and losers. Almost everyone is categorized as one or the other; to be admired or despised; to be befriended or to be ostracised; and to be emulated or avoided. One is prompted to ask: Is winning and losing really important? Is being a winner or a loser all that there is to life?



If we listen to stories of successful people, we see that not all of them consider themselves as ?winners?. Frequently, there have been cases where people who have been labelled successful businessmen have lost their families through divorce; or have lost their health through over working to gather the wealth. Can we call such people winners? The people probably do not think so. One such person was Elvis Presley. In the world of pop music he was ?The King? a definite winner; but alas, his personal life was far from being successful at all. He lost his family, his health and died miserably from a drug overdose. His end was pitiful, yet he has vast wealth at his disposal. One is sure that the ?King? would have gladly traded all his wealth for a loving family life.

Of course, this is not to say that it is good or even acceptable to be a ?loser?. No one should be poor or a failure in life. It is of no credit to anyone if he were to live from hand to mouth, or be homeless or be sick or unsuccessful in family life. In fact with all the joy and happiness that we see in the world around us, it is an insult to humanity that there should be people who are poor or ?losers? in life. However, the fact remains that not many people who consider themselves as ?losers? actually are! Many people, who call themselves losers, only because they did not win what they set out to, are winners ? if only they could take honest looks at their situations. For example, people who come in second place in Olympic events burst into tears ? apparently because they did not become number one. Can they be considered as losers? Surely it is a sign of success that they are in second place ? in comparison to many others.

Recently there was an amusing advertisement. A lady observes that there are only 12 supermodels in the world and two billion women who are not. Surely, they are not all losers; but then again they are not without beauty either. None of us have to be winners or losers. We should be happy enough to be ordinary humans in the beautiful world and find happiness in small things, like the smile of a child or the fragrance of a flower or the smoothness of a stone on the beach. Life is certainly not only for those considered as ?winners? by popular standards; nor is life to be excluded for so-called ?losers. Life is for all of us. We do not have to follow the popular tendency to label people as ?winners and losers?.