Nope. I didn't win. I entered a humorous writing contest back in March. (I told you about it here) I didn't really expect to win, but it always feels a little bit bad to be a loser, doesn't it. At least, I think it should feel a little bad to lose. You know how much I like to be a winner. :)
Actually, I didn't deserve to win. I didn't really put all that much effort into my submission. I hope the person that won the contest worked very hard on their submission. I hope they did what I didn't do. I wrote the first draft of my submission as a blog post. I think I may have put a half an hour or 40 minutes of time into the piece. The first draft was about 550 words. The contest rules said the submission was to be between 1000 and 2000 words. I knew, to meet the requirements, I had to flesh out my piece. I procrastinated and procrastinated. I hope the winner took his first draft and rewrote and edited it over and over until he had a tight, funny piece. I did what losers do. I took my first draft and added to it. I edited it for spelling and grammar, but I didn't tighten the piece into a proper essay. In fact, if I did anything, I edited the funny right out of it with my halfhearted addition. I hope the winner took his essay to others and had them read it and critique it. I hope he took the suggestions or criticism to heart and used it to improve his work. I asked a couple people to read my work. Then I didn't make any changes regarding the critiques. In fact, one of my readers said, "it's not very funny." (Yeah, I kinda knew that)
I learned a lot from this experience. I learned I can do exactly the same thing other losers do. I can give a half-assed effort just like they do. I will lose, just like they do. Winners WORK for it. I knew this, but the experience of losing drove it home. I am glad I know where I failed. I am glad I know what I can to to improve. I am glad I don't feel like I deserved to win and was cheated in any way. And, for pete's sake, I'm glad I'm not a crybaby about it.
The bible talks about giving your best effort in all you do in both the old testament and the new testament. In Proverbs 13:4 it says, "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied." I got nothing. I was the sluggard (lazy person). In Colossians 3:23-24 it says, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." I certainly didn't work heartily (the opposite of halfhearted) and I didn't work as if I was working for the lord. In fact, I don't do that very often, if at all. If I want to improve my writing, I have to start working on it. I'm not looking for reward or praise. I'm looking for the satisfaction of a job well done.
I'm joining Emily at Imperfect Prose on Thursdays today. Don't be mislead when reading Em's work and all the wonderful blogs linked to her today. Good writers make it look easy. It's not. They've worked hard on their posts. Enjoy the blogs from some very good writers here today. I thank her for allowing me to add my imperfect effort to the group.
Today I'm grateful for
159. The April showers that bring May flowers
160. The joy that comes from making the perfect risotto
161. Taking the opportunities to be helpful
162. An invitation to a friend's son's college graduation party
163. Jojoba oil
Actually, I didn't deserve to win. I didn't really put all that much effort into my submission. I hope the person that won the contest worked very hard on their submission. I hope they did what I didn't do. I wrote the first draft of my submission as a blog post. I think I may have put a half an hour or 40 minutes of time into the piece. The first draft was about 550 words. The contest rules said the submission was to be between 1000 and 2000 words. I knew, to meet the requirements, I had to flesh out my piece. I procrastinated and procrastinated. I hope the winner took his first draft and rewrote and edited it over and over until he had a tight, funny piece. I did what losers do. I took my first draft and added to it. I edited it for spelling and grammar, but I didn't tighten the piece into a proper essay. In fact, if I did anything, I edited the funny right out of it with my halfhearted addition. I hope the winner took his essay to others and had them read it and critique it. I hope he took the suggestions or criticism to heart and used it to improve his work. I asked a couple people to read my work. Then I didn't make any changes regarding the critiques. In fact, one of my readers said, "it's not very funny." (Yeah, I kinda knew that)
I learned a lot from this experience. I learned I can do exactly the same thing other losers do. I can give a half-assed effort just like they do. I will lose, just like they do. Winners WORK for it. I knew this, but the experience of losing drove it home. I am glad I know where I failed. I am glad I know what I can to to improve. I am glad I don't feel like I deserved to win and was cheated in any way. And, for pete's sake, I'm glad I'm not a crybaby about it.
The bible talks about giving your best effort in all you do in both the old testament and the new testament. In Proverbs 13:4 it says, "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied." I got nothing. I was the sluggard (lazy person). In Colossians 3:23-24 it says, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." I certainly didn't work heartily (the opposite of halfhearted) and I didn't work as if I was working for the lord. In fact, I don't do that very often, if at all. If I want to improve my writing, I have to start working on it. I'm not looking for reward or praise. I'm looking for the satisfaction of a job well done.
I'm joining Emily at Imperfect Prose on Thursdays today. Don't be mislead when reading Em's work and all the wonderful blogs linked to her today. Good writers make it look easy. It's not. They've worked hard on their posts. Enjoy the blogs from some very good writers here today. I thank her for allowing me to add my imperfect effort to the group.
Today I'm grateful for
159. The April showers that bring May flowers
160. The joy that comes from making the perfect risotto
161. Taking the opportunities to be helpful
162. An invitation to a friend's son's college graduation party
163. Jojoba oil
Oh. Sorry you didn't win. If you were here, I'd give you a cookie. They're a little on the crunchy side; do you think you would mind? At least you have a good attitude about not winning! There's always next time. You should share the story about the lady and the bus.
ReplyDeleteHey, next time. You learned something, right? And, got a blog post out of it!
ReplyDelete"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new" ~Albert Einstein.
ReplyDeleteYou went for it, took the loss, and turned it into a learning experience. Where a lot of people might have given up entirely. In my book that makes you a winner. We can't always expect to hit a home run the first time at bat. So now you know, next time you're up..
Swing harder.
Thank you for the encouragement. You were sweet to comment.
ReplyDeleteI need to write about her again, don't I.
ReplyDeleteI learn how to be a better person by my failures and mistakes. And yes winners work very hard for what they do. Thanks for sharing your experience and nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteoh girl. you've got such a great attitude. i think you should have won. but i love what you've gleaned from it, and what you've taught us through it. love to you.
ReplyDeleteThis was actually pretty ding dang convicting for me. I am the queen of halfhearted. I LOVE to throw things together.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't really reward me. I get very, very, stressed out about my slapped together life. I need to be more intentional.
So maybe you won, because you sure were the teacher tonight.
sorry i am so late...was a very long day yesterday...smiles...you know, accept the truth you got out of this but then dont beat yourself up as well....and knowing your mistakes you can do better next time right?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the follow and welcome. It is good to meet you, too. :)
ReplyDeleteIf we don't learn from our mistakes, we waste the experience. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was great to read your story at Emily's. It was good to hear your "voice."
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed you took the time to enter. That's admirable in itself!
ReplyDelete" I learned I can do exactly the same thing other losers do." I know what you mean. Sometimes when I know I didn't give it my best, I feel like a loser, too. But then I turn around and give another project my best and then I feel like a winner. This will happen to you too. We can't give our best every single time!
ReplyDeleteWhatever we give to God , He blesses a hundredfold! Same with writing. Give your efforts to God, the best efforts, and the not so good. We're not always up to it 100 percent of the time! I should know! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteWell, the writing was an experience and a good one I'm sure. Keep doing it because I've found that eventually if you have a passion for something, you are already a winner.
ReplyDeletewinners vs. losers
ReplyDeleteit seems like too easy of a way to categorize people. winners don't always win. losers don't always lose. winners become losers. losers become winners. some people lose even though they win... etc etc.
To me, you have won even though you say you are a "loser." You would be more of a loser to me if you had won the competition, and never realized the value of hard work, dedication, passion, and giving it your all. In my eyes, you win, because you have learned something important about yourself, and I'm sure the next time around you will do better. A person only loses when they stop being improving, reaching, and growing.