Some You Win...Some You Have To Let Go

IT'S THE TAKING PART THAT COUNTS

I like this saying. But I think it's used too often and in instances where winning really counts. The reason I like this phrase and for when it can be used - if you want to accept that no matter how hard you work at something, how hard you try and at what seemingly good odds you have for winning - sometimes, the result isn't the one you want. On these occasions, we need to take defeat gracefully, feel good about the good fortune of the winners and take enjoyment at being a part of the event itself. That way, everyone is a winner...

Life's Like A Duck Race

We went to a great little place today called Porthallow Cove, where we ate and drank at a fine pub called The Five Pilchards. This is also where they host the annual Easter Duck Race. Children and adults make their own ducks - some of which are elaborately made and others not so - and float them down a stream towards a cheering crowd of excited kids and (most excited) adults. 

We had one entrance in the kids race and two in the adult one. The crafts were lovingly prepared and geared for speed. We had fair odds of success. However, in both races, flimsy and poorly made craft won the races and claimed the large chocolate easter egg prizes. It hardly seemed fair when we'd put all the effort in! But, even though our craft was in the lead on three separate occasions, a twig or a shallow part of the bank would slow the craft down and give the lead away - and we came just outside of a place in each race. 

So, even though all the kids who took part, received a token chocolate egg, you could still tell who the winners were. The sun was shining and we'd enjoyed a fantastic lunch. We had tunes on in the car on the way back and the roof down, yet from the kids faces sitting in the back, you could still see who the winners weren't. It's in these moments that we need to use the phrase: 'it's the taking part that counts' - and really mean it. Because with all the other positives going on that were forgotten in that moment of coming in fourth, it was easy to get pulled in to taking on a mood that cast a downer on the afternoon's events. And like Forest Gump's chocolate box quote, I'm now taking ownership of my own wise words: 'life is like a duck race'.