The dilemma of defeat

By Joshua Corcuera

We are often told that defeat is humiliating, it is something that we cannot be proud of.

This is obviously true. I mean who in the world will be proud that he or she lost? When we were children, we wanted to win in the games or sports we play—we do not want to lose in a basketball game or whatever sport it is. When we joined a competition in the intramurals back in grade school, we wanted to bring home the bacon, to win the gold medal. And this is true because who wants to go home as a loser? Nothing much changes as the years go by, this fact remains true as we grow up.

When we make it to high school, we want to perform well in school, we want to finish the academic year with recognition, we want to graduate with honors. This is true for many because if you can be an outstanding student, then why not? Why settle as an ordinary student especially when you could be better?

Even among adults, we want to win in the endeavors we enter. Have you noticed that many professional athletes cry when they settle for silver, especially in renowned sporting events such as the Olympics? Many of them look down to the floor, hiding their faces, when they lose. When they receive the silver medal, some would even hesitate to wear that medal opting to merely hold it instead. Had they won the gold medal, they would have proudly worn that for sure. You cannot blame them because we are accustomed to the notion that we must only be proud when we win the gold. Anything other than gold, one cannot be proud of.

When we suffer defeat, we tend to make excuses just to make ourselves feel better. To me, this is proof that defeat is perceived in our society as something humiliating. For example, when we fail a crucial examination in school, we tell our parents that even the top students fail in the same test. When someone loses in a game, say basketball for example, they will claim that the opponent was merely lucky. Naka-chamba, in common parlance.

However demoralizing defeat is, there are instances where it is not that devastating.  There are exceptional cases where winners cheat, a good example in sports is the use of prohibited drugs to strengthen an athlete’s performance. This practice is referred to as doping and Russian athletes have done this during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. As a result, the International Olympic Committee stripped thirteen medals won by Russian athletes (though nine were later reinstated). From here, we can see that it is better to be defeated with honor than emerge victorious through deceit. It is better to lose with a clean conscience than to be victorious because of resorting to dirty tactics.

I realized that sometimes, defeat is uplifting, it is something that we can be proud of in exceptional cases. Better to lose with honor, than to win dirty.