They Got a Name for the Winners in the World

Recently I spoke to an old friend, and asked after her son. He was always a great kid, who overcame a rough childhood, got through college, and started a business. My friend said that she was so worried about him -- he had many neuroses, and was "suffering greatly." So I called him up. He reported that while he had some issues, he had worked them out. He was doing fine. His life was terrific. Once again, one of the truest things I know proved to be the case: winners find a way to win; losers find a way to lose. This young man is, happily, a winner. He was going to live a great and productive life -- no excuses. Yes, he said, he deals with his demons, as we all do, but they didn't define him. I know so many others who live for the excuse. They're best typified by Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront:" I coulda been a contender! Give a loser $1 million dollars, and it'll be blown in a short matter of time. Give a winner $10K, and she'll parlay it into $1 million. It's just the way of the world. So, it warmed me to hear from my young friend. As I grow older, I want to hang with the winners. They elevate you. Losers, although providing great tales of woe, suck the life away. I remember a great passage from John Irving's "World According to Garp." His mother Jennie Fields had begun keeping company with the Ellen Jamesians, a group of women who cut off their own tongues to protest the brutality against women. Garp finally decided to avoid the negativity, shouting "I don't want to hear any more of this shit, Mom!" And so it must be. They call Alabama the Crimson Tide...