June Renew: Day Ten
Team Dumpster Fire
We are less than five months until the November election. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be an overly political post. It’s just that someone is gonna lose and a whole half of the country (or less) is going to be ultra upset again. I won’t mind because I know I’m on the winning team this time. I’ve been on it this whole time, even if the state of affairs won’t allow that to be reflected back.
I saw this little clip on X yesterday featuring a campaign manager for the Biden campaign. Of course they’re all still trotting out Orange Man Bad™ as a reason not to vote for him, but what Adrienne Elrod said here really struck me. “President Biden is a seasoned foreign policy pro,” she says, “He served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.” Well I mean, he’s been the president (they tell me) for the past three-and-a-half years, and you can’t trot out any recent accomplishments? Wonder why you wouldn’t want to mention the disastrous Afghanistan pullout, China’s ongoing aggression toward Taiwan, or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that saw the U.S. send nearly $200 billion to a literal actor?
Sorry, I said I wouldn’t make this overly political. It’s just that I so clearly see this line of thinking losing forever, and I’m glad I’m not on the team of who’ll jump ship first.
Unfair Competition
I try and go into things with a winning attitude, despite my many bloviations calling myself a loser. It’s like the director of my show says, he’s there to give 100%. It doesn’t happen every time, but that’s what he strives for. And more often than not, that’s what I do too. Only there was one time I was thrust into an unwinnable situation, and all the positive vibes in the world couldn’t make things a success.
In my grade school, you could play on the sports teams once you reached fifth grade. So of course I hopped right in to every sport that was available to me. It’s where I started my brief stint as a field hockey goalie. Our team was new that same year, so we had to make a name for ourselves. But we rolled up to one school for a meet, only to find they had two boys on their team. It’s not like modern day and these kids thought they were girls, the Day School we were competing with had a policy to allow boys on any of the girls’ teams. I thought it was unfair from the getgo, as these boys looked ginormous compared to the rest of us, but we had no choice.
Naturally they creamed us. Only 3-0. But I remember midway through the game, as I watched the tall boy come zooming down the field directly toward my shaky little goalie boots, that there was no point in all this going on. We were going to lose from the moment we got onto the field and saw those boys. I lost already. I wish I hadn’t rolled over and showed my belly so easily. I wish I had tried. And that’s all anyone can do when they’re careening toward failure: Give it your all until the wheels fall off.
Know When to Hold ‘Em
You can’t win ’em all. That much is obvious. But I’d rather be honest about my chances. I can’t sit there and pretend I got this when I clearly don’t. And some people would rather continue the hype train when there’s nothing to hype.
Not my style. Not how I conduct business. It’s more admirable to bow out gracefully than pretend. But I also don’t need to approach things with a defeatist attitude either. I suppose bringing my best to the table is all I need to do. And at this point in my life, I’m far more cognizant of the choices I make to lead me toward the winning team. So when it comes to the moment we get to reap the benefits, don’t gloat. No one likes a sore winner.