Today's newspaper had two contrasting headlines. On the sports page, it was about Ben Stokes and his cricket philosophy after the narrow loss to Australia.
There is some sympathy for England who took more chances, made a sporting declaration and made every moment in the test worth watching till the end.
The other headline, mentioned the tennis legend John McEnroe's advice at Stanford University asking students to enjoy the thrill of playing.
The irony of the McEnroe's statements was sweet because all of us remember the acerbic, swearing superbrat in the early 80's who seemed obsessed with winning.
McEnroe recounted a meeting with South Africa's Nelson Mandela who was a prisoner in apartheid cases, during McEnroe's famous loss to Bjorn Bjorg in 1980.
Mandela told McEnroe that he & his mates had followed every point on radio “The lesson here is you don't have to win to be part of something that is truly magical.”
“That we gave (Nelson) Mandela a brief respite from the excruciating hell of 27 years of political imprisonment meant more to me than any award I've ever won”
That was an amazing story coming from a modern day champion who ultimately learned humility almost by chance from one of modern history's great leaders.
One's values & priorities change over time and one should stoop to conquer. THE SECOND OPINION believes that losing a battle need not mean losing the war.
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