Susan Boyle: Finding the Positive in Failing to Win♥

Susan Boyle: The Positive in Failing to Win.♥

“Experience life in all possible ways – whether it’s good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don’t be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become. ♥” Osho

Susan’s Final Song at … Britain’s Got Talent 2009
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Failing to win isn’t always such a bad thing because it forces us to reflect on where we might have fallen short, how to strategize to do better next time, accept that our opponent had the trump card, and, in Susan Boyle’s case, to develop a resolve to move on to other accomplishments. While Susan recuperates from stress at a hospital in an undisclosed location, some might say she was gob-smacked. She will recover and get on with life. The question for the rest of us is: What is the lesson learned from all this hoopla?

“… joy and sorrow are inseparable . . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. ♥” Kahlil Gibran

The Winner of this year’s Britain’s Got Talent TV show is …. Diversity
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In the seven weeks or more that Susan Boyle appeared on our collective radar, she became a symbol of hope for people who often wondered about achieving dreams that in many cases were never pursued. She is still a winner because she stayed the course and graciously applauded the winners – Street Dance Group – Diversity. Winning can be a great teacher yet, I still believe failure is the greater teacher for it humanizes us, teaches us to face our foibles and helps us keep our egos in check.

“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. ♥” Rumi

Do you remember the time you lost an opportunity, a competition or a desired outcome? I am sure we can all think back to things we held dear to our hearts that did not bear fruit. It is the very nature of life to experience our share of loss and gain. These events don’t define who we are or diminish our capacity to accomplish great things; we must commit to move on and pursue other dreams. When one door closes, another one opens.

“But to me nothing – the negative, the empty – is exceedingly powerful. ♥” Alan Watts

Susan's supportive fans, friends and family can make a huge difference

There is much to be grateful for even when we do not win everything we want. It is up to each of us to go back and look at the bigger picture behind the loss and consider what it all means. For Susan,a winner no less, it could mean taking her life back from the glare of prying public eyes and cherishing more time with loved ones. It could also mean great growth in strengthening her character as she recognizes the power of treating praise and blame the same.

“With every experience, you alone are painting your own canvas, thought by thought, choice by choice. ♥” Oprah Winfrey

Diversity: Dazed but quickly thrilled to bits after a huge upset and win.

The very media that uplifted Susan started to castigate her in the final weeks of competition; this is life and its ironies… the love/hate relationship that public figures learn to live with daily. The highly entertaining Dance Group Diversity won and they will face admirers and detractors too. I wish them continued success, blessings and strong stomachs. As we all know, adulation today can become vilification tomorrow.

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. ♥”
Isaiah 40:31

It is apropos, in this economic climate, important to keep the shifting winds in our status in the forefront of our minds; especially as friends and family lose jobs and other safety nets that were considered ubiquitous in the past. Failure to secure a new job right away or watching the home foreclosed does not augur a negative future but an opportunity to rebuild and reinvent yourself for the new positive direction your soul is being called to follow. There are always positive opportunities standing behind our failures – we just need to reach out and embrace them.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Do Share.

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Photo Credits:
BBC News online.

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank