Winning Synonyms

“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing” is a quote from Vince Lombardi…or Henry Sanders, depending on who you ask.  Both were successful football coaches at different levels.  Just for poops and giggles, I looked up some synonyms for “winning”. Here’s what I found = victorious, successful, ahead, champion, conquering, triumph, leading, first, top, unbeaten, unvanquished, top-scoring, prevailing, conquering, carry the day, sweep the board, take the prize, achieve mastery, ascending, knockout, checkmate, grand slam, rake over the coals, outplaying, outdoing, dominating, outdueling, routing, subduing, surmounting, trouncing, bettering, and umgadakickbooty (okay, I made that last one up).  Everyone likes to win.  Those who say differently are either lying or have thrown in the towel.  There are thousands of quotes about winning; mostly from the world of sports.  However, not all are sports related. For example, Walt Disney said, “The difference in winning and losing is most often not quitting.” He didn’t run some “Mickey Mouse” operation.  “The extra energy required to take another shot is the secret to winning” was coined by author and motivational speaker,  Dennis Waitley.  I would like to concentrate on just one of the above synonyms for winning – Triumph.

While we were listening to our Pastor preach on the topic of “Mercy” in April of 2013, our youngest daughter took my notebook and wrote something profound in it.  “Triumph = trying plus a little ump!”  Smart girl...just like her Momma.  She’s right – winning doesn’t come to sluggards.  Winning doesn’t routinely exist for those who never break a sweat.  Winning doesn’t come for those who do the bare minimum.  It has been said that the difference of one degree Fahrenheit from 211 degrees to 212 degrees can move a locomotive with the energy produced.  Winning doesn’t come to those not willing to put forth the effort. Plain and simple.  If you, as a teacher, want your kids to win (i.e. Succeed, grow, learn, achieve, reaching goals), you will have to do the “little things” that make the big differences that you may hear me preach about on a routine basis. Everyone does the “Big” things.  Successful people know that it’s the “Little Things” that make the big difference.  So, when you think about wanting to win, remember two things it will take = TRYING and a LITTLE UMP!”