Softball Lessons: Fun Despite Losing

In the midst of our current society that won't let kids play tag in school yards or keep score for kickball because they don't want kids to feel like "losers," my office softball team lost both games of our double header on Monday night and still had a great time. We loved the couple of hours spent outside on a gorgeous late spring evening, hanging out with co-workers and their family members. I really didn't care what the score was, but I was happy that (despite a 13-year interval since I last played softball) I managed to hit the ball a couple of times, one of which got me to first base and helped a teammate score. [Thanks Dad and Mom for childhood summer evenings spent in the back yard learning to "keep your eye on the ball."]

What all this tells me that my generation learned to lose with grace -- being able to have fun playing sports or games, knowing that we will lose some and win others, but the goal is to play your best anyway. So then I ask, "How will my kids be able to learn those same lessons as we move toward a "feel good" society?" What happened to being able to encourage competition and trying to win, knowing that we might have to teach our children to handle both winning and losing with grace?

Well, anyway, we had fun, and we're looking forward to a few more games over the next month or so. Who knows, we might even win one! :-) (Now if I could just find my glove...)