If You Can't Accept Losing, You Can't Win

Vince Lombardi was a famous football coach who was known for being tough and for leading his teams to victory. While his words were meant to inspire athletes playing on the "Frozen Tundra" of Green Bay, we can find some wisdom in a few of his quotes, too. Today's quote is from Lombardi, and I think that it says a lot.
"If you can't accept losing, you can't win."

First of all, I should say that this isn't the quote that most people think of when they hear the name Lombardi. He is known for saying "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing," or something like that. When you think about that comment, today's quote from Lombardi seems quite a bit different.
"If you can't accept losing, you can't win." So what does this mean and how can it help me in my life?
From a football standpoint, I'd say that Lombardi probably meant that losing is part of every game, and if players can't accept that losing is a possibility, they won't win. If you know that you might lose, you are going to practice harder, work harder to learn the plays, and perform at your highest level in the game because you know that you have to.
Often in sports, you'll see teams that learn from losing close games or losing in the playoffs, and they will use that experience to help them win in the future.
I am a big Detroit Pistons fan, and I grew up watching their great teams in the 1980s. Those teams progressively got better and better, but they had several heart-breaking losses before they finally won an NBA championship. I still remember how tough those losses were for me as a fan (Game 5 in Boston was the  worst!) but I see now how those teams learned from the losses and got better.
Those teams and other great teams knew that losing was part of the game and that helped them to become winners.
In our own lives, we also have to accept that losing is a possibility. You might lose at a sport you are playing, you might not get the job you apply for, you might get turned down when you ask someone out, or you might have all kinds of things go wrong in your life.
But you know what? All of that is OK.
You see, things go wrong for everyone. Everyone loses out  every now and then. You can't let your fear of losing out on a job, date, project, game or anything else keep you from trying those things and reaching for your dreams.
You might get turned down, so you have to accept that things like that happen in life. And once you accept that, then you can do whatever you can so that you don't lose at whatever you're trying. You work harder to get that job, you try harder to impress your date or you practice harder to win your game.
The point is, you have to keep moving forward, taking on challenges and trying new things. You have to put yourself out there into situations where you might win or lose, because if you don't, you've already lost.
The only way to win is to accept that you might lose. I hope that you'll accept this and move forward, and I bet you'll end up with some pretty good wins.