I got to thinking about losing. I guess this goes hand-in-hand with competitiveness. I’ve never been a competitive person. During my childhood soccer games, I would stick out my tongue at other players rather than fight for the ball. As I got older, I grew even more indifferent: running up and down the field to burn off calories rather than try to score goals. In fact, I always preferred that the ball stay away from me.

I recently took second place in a family poker game. This is not normal. I usually don’t make it far in poker because I’m not competitive, nor do I have a poker face or understand the strategy. It was an exciting game that I did end up losing, but somehow came very close to dominating. It was groundbreaking for me. My competitive spirit came alive, which almost never comes out in sports or games. And you know what? I like that.