Are You Still Wanting a Winner Instead of a Whiner?

When I was a teenager, I remember becoming bored one summer and there was no one with whom to play because they were all on vacation... so, I was left alone with nothing to do after all my morning chores were completed. As one thought led to another thought, I decided (on my own) that it could not be very difficult to disassemble a lawnmower and then reassemble it back... since it was small and did not have that many moving parts.

Within a couple of hours, I suppose (maybe longer), I had it completely disassembled and after eating a couple of crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches set about the task of reassembly; however, reassembly for some reason was not all that easy, especially since I could remember the exact order of how I had disassembled all the other parts. And, for the rest of the afternoon, I tried one approach after another approach in an effort to reassemble the lawnmower and never got it back together without realizing I have left some parts out.

The only task that I managed to successfully complete was getting dirt, grime, and oil all over my T-shirt and jeans.

As I pondered the opportunity in front of me, I began to wonder if my approach was wrong so I found the owner's manual stuck in a hole in the cinder block of the garage and set about studying the graphic illustrations in the hopes that I could figure out what I had done wrong. As I was studying the manual, making no sense at all out of what I was seeing, my dad came home from work and into the garage to see what I was doing.

“Can't get it back together, huh,” he said with a frown on his face.

“Well,” I said, “I haven't given up just yet.”

“That's my boy,” my dad said smiling at me, “let's get some dinner and work on it together after wards.”

After dinner, we had the lawnmower reassembled in less than an hour and I was the one who pulled the cord to see if it would start and it finally did after several pulls from both my dad and I. As we put the garage back in order, my dad said, “Son, a smart man knows his limitations.”

I have never forgotten that lesson nor have I have forgotten the fact that my dad was not mad at me with what I had done or had attempted to do... which made it all the more special in my mind. But, when I see and read an article about how the world wants Winners not Whiners, I cringe inside.

And, I fully understand and appreciate the mentality of that statement and I understand that whiners does not mean someone crying, but someone who says that they cannot do this or that without even trying... but, is that a good personality trait to have? Always believing that you can do anything that you want to do because you set your mind to doing it...

I can set my mind to playing golf, basketball, baseball, football, or to becoming a race car driver, or a mountain climber, or a sky diver, but that does not mean I will be any good with any of those sports... so, is it not better to understand your limitations and set your mind to doing something that you know that you are good at... I mean it is just a thought.

There have been several occasions where I have told myself that I can fix this plumbing problem and that all I have to do is simply set my mind to the task of fixing it. And, for 4-6 hours on different weekends, I set my mind to fixing the problem... and, the only thing I accomplished was making the problem worse.

So, I do not have a mechanical mindset and no matter how hard I want to think and believe that I do have a mechanical mindset, it never seems to work for me. Maybe I am not focused enough. Or, maybe I have already whined to myself inside my mind and told myself that I could not do this. But, whatever the case may be, I am not mechanically inclined... so, why keep trying?

DOES THAT MEAN I AMA WHINER?

Now, as far as Winners are concerned, the fact remains and I really don't know how to say this without just coming right out and saying it, but NOT EVERYON CAN BE A WINNER? In any kind of competition, there will always be winners and losers.

So, going back to the statement: the world wants winners not whiners...

This statement seems rather self-defeating from the getgo... logic dictates that there can only be one winner... so, by default is the loser a whiner? Or, is the loser just a loser? Or, did the loser just loose that one game?

If you did not get the “girl of your dreams,” but you never gave up in your pursuits of her, does that mean you are a loser? Or, a whiner?

And, since you are not a winner in this competition of love, then the world is not going to think much of you according to the statement since the world only wants winners.

It may seem to some of you like I am playing with words, but words like these create the wrong impression in the minds of impressionable people and without some detailed explanation regarding all the parameters of a statement like that, someone's mind could wander no telling where...

I remember when the Tennis great Jimmy Connors continued to play in tennis competition even though his aged body was not match for these young athletes who were making him look foolish on the court without breaking a sweat... and, Connors never was a whiner and never told himself that he could not win the next match, but he always lost and was never again the winner he used to be.

So, how does this phrase (The World Wants Winners Not Whiners) address someone like that?