Losing = Learning

I learned an important lesson today and felt in today's world of competition, the rest of you should as well.

For some time now, I have had pride in my test scores. A gentleman can not survive without intelligence and having something to prove that is helpful. As of today, I can no longer hold that pride for someone blew my scores straight out the water. This person succeeded where I had failed and my pride did feel a sting of pain. Then it hit me: jealousy, a gentleman's worst enemy. I disliked feeling like this as it shows weakness in a man and I needed to find sanity in literature. Instead of opting for Jules Vern, I went for a different classic. He is a man who we have all grown up with and have even ridden our first trolley thanks to his life lessons. His name is Fred Rogers but we mostly know him as THE Mr. Rogers. I purchased a biography about him titled "The World According to Mr. Rogers". In it, I found an inspirational story. It stated, and I quote:

"A young apprentice applied to a master carpenter for a job. The older man asked him, “Do you know your trade?” “Yes, sir!” the young man replied proudly. “Have you ever made a mistake?” the older man inquired. “No, sir!” the young man answered, feeling certain he would get the job. “Then there’s no way I’m going to hire you,” said the master carpenter, “because when you make one, you won’t know how to fix it.”


I instantly felt inspired and changed. I didn't need to feel jealous towards a loss or mistake I made but instead had to learn. Take it like this. You and another are taking a test. You get a 70 and the other passes with a perfect paper. The other person has learned nothing from this test taking experience and will leave the room with an ego. You, on the other hand, will have learned from the wrong choices you picked and will leave the room with a higher level of knowledge. You will remember these mistakes for the rest of your life, improve off of them, and become a better person; all from a low grade! How dare I, the LoneGentleman, pass up such an amazing opportunity to learn! This person obviously knows something I do not and I can learn from them just by asking. Instead of moping like some sort of sloth, I can go ask questions on how they earned this score. We could even share methods and refine each other. To you masses, I say jealousy is not only a sign of weakness but a loss for yourself in personal refinement. 2nd place needs to ask 1st what they did to get there. Knowledge is meant to be shared not blocked by silly childish rivalry. Maybe I need to go out and make a new friend now.


Ta ta for now, see you again when times call for it.