I lost, lost and lost and then I won

Just before writing this, I was cursing my stars for not sticking with me in my last few days. And suddenly I realized that these days couldn't have been better. I lost and lost and lost. But today when everything is over, I have realized that I didn't loose anything in any of my losses except for a sprained lower neck and a little piled-up work at office. But these are nothing in front of the relief and satisfaction that I am experiencing right now. I had tasted defeat in 4 consecutive competitions but more importantly, I have learned to face defeat.

It started with the poster making competition. The outcome of our efforts was decent but when compared to the winning entry, our work looked mediocre.

Next was volley-ball. We had a good team (do not count me as I was a filler) and with a little practice, we could have given competition to the better teams. But, as obvious, we didn't do any practice. Some good players didn't turn out and we had more fillers. And eventually, we lost both our prelim games; convincingly.

Then came badminton; the game which I have played countable number of times. I participated in the doubles event and it was just for fun so it's not a surprise that my partner was less mature than me in this game. I played 2-3 times before the game and the game was playable. The result of the match was 15-0 against us. We were completely thrashed by our opponents. Although, they two are among the best players of that court and we among the worst, still the sound of that ZERO in the final score made me really feel defeated.

This defeat brought back the memories of the earlier losses and it didn't feel good.
But I had one more card in my pack; my joker - the pool competition. This game I play good enough. And with that confidence, I thought that barring one or two, I would easily cruise to the top. Please note that these statements are made according to the people whom I normally play with. Today was my first game and also the last of the tournament. My opponent was probably a PM with whom I had never played with. He was good and better than me today. But with my normal form, I would have easily defeated him. It had to happen and it happened. I lost in a very close match due to mistakes I could have avoided. Anyway, it was a defeat again and in my own arena.

The time would have been 7:50 PM and I started writing this blog at around 10:50. These 3 hours in between were pretty hard to pass but now I am a relieved person.