Victor or Victim

What do you think of when you hear the term victor? Is it a gladiator surviving against the odds to claim glory? Is it an Olympic athlete staking their name in the scrolls of history? We have been conditioned to believe that victory needs to be an extravagant affair that touches every human on the face of the earth.

When I started college, I thought I was good at basketball. I played AAU when I was younger and sometimes played with my childhood friends.

In my first basketball game at my university, I was chosen to shoot free throws for a prize. As a freshman, I could not have been more excited.

Imagine a blind walrus with one flipper. The blubbery bastard would have had a higher free throw percentage than I. To my friend’s glee, I made one free throw out of seven in front of thousands at Eleanor R Baldwin Arena.

It wasn’t enjoyable, and people mentioned it for years afterward. As a result, I started playing basketball more consistently. I made sure that I would never be that unprepared again

Sometimes, being a victor is taking life’s losses to lessons.

It is easy to fall into a victim’s mentality. We all have unpleasant aspects of our lives. I work at a coffee shop as a barista. I have been there for almost a year. Sometimes, I still get perplexed by the influx of customers. I complain about the long hours and mentally taxing work until I realize it can always be worse. I have a well-paying job, and I am in school in a location people pay thousands to vacation for. For crying out loud, my university’s slogan is “Home In Paradise.”

Sometimes, being a victor is being grateful for your current life.

There will always be plenty of evil in the world. We must find the good. The quote I leave you with is one of my favorite personal mantras.

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.

inspired by John Orisino of Victor or Victim