Penny for your Thoughts

‘Loser’ might have been might most spoken word my sophomore year of high school. I used it to describe anyone that didn’t like me or whom I had disagreements with. Now, after graduating and experiencing a lot more of the world than 16 year old me, I’ve developed a new definition for what it means to be a ‘winner’ or ‘loser’.

I think there is a huge societal pressure in our modern day to be successful. It is plastered in any young adult’s face that they need to go to college, make money, etc. The masses want to tell you that is what makes you a winner. They tell you that the people with little money, the poor artists, the drug addicts on the street, they are the losers of society.

The masses are wrong.

The truth is, or at least the the truth that I’ve personally come to, is that no one is truly a loser. I know you may be thinking of someone you may not like, or maybe even someone you hate. When push comes to shove, every single soul in this world is currently fighting for purpose. Through the integration of media and internet, the general population has lost a way to find their meaning in the world. This generates into anger and frustration, which many people project outwards. This festers into miserable lives and unhappy living. Too many humans in our society, specifically contemporary American society, go too many days without deep introspection on who and what they are. It is not anyone’s fault. It just happens to be the progression of world.

There are many moments where I have felt deep anger towards certain people. I thought they were losers who would never amount to anything. After seeing the world a bit more, I’ve come to realize that no one deserves true hatred. I’ve been wronged and wronged others, but that doesn’t mean my soul has bad intentions. I’ve come to project that mindset onto the people I meet and those I’ve met before. No one is a loser. We are all divine, created with conscious and designed to share love. Some people have simply not come to terms with that quite yet. I do not think I hate anyone. I don’t know if I am capable of hating anyone. We are all experiencing life together for the first time. We will make mistakes, as humans do. That doesn’t mean we cannot right them or learn from them.

As for those who society will tell you are the losers of our population, I assure you they are everything but. I used to have a negative opinion of those who begged on the streets. Like many people, I thought to myself, “Get a job.” This was until I had a trip to a busy city and I noticed a man begging. He looked mid 30s-40s, and his sign read, “Too ugly to strip.” I appreciated his sense of comedy, and something told me to give this man some of my spare dollars. I do not remember the exact amount I gave him. The part I do remember, though, is how when I’d walk past him the following days of my trip, he would thank me. Not asking for more money, but simply thanking me and telling me how much I meant to him. It was this experience that changed my mindset just a little more. Whether a person has a house or job does not change the fact that they are a human being. A human being with emotions, passions, and dreams. No one deserves to be treated as anything less than that.

We are all winners. Whether your win is getting that job promotion or simply getting out of bed, we are winning. We get to experience life on this Earth, together, and it is a beautiful thing. We have all won the gift of life. It is imperative that you treat yourself as a winner. You deserve to be treated well, to be happy. You are a unique and special individual that is creating your own path no one has seen before. A loser would not be able to do that, therefore, you are a winner. Keep your head up, and continue to win at life. You’ve done a great job thus far.