Guest Blogger - Dina Kucera

Well the fat lady is singing , and it's over. This Yankee lost the South by 31 votes.
Frankly I'm a little relieved. It was alot of work campaigning and asking for votes.
I thank all of you for the thousands of votes I got over the past few weeks. And I really thank you for putting up with the horrible login and voting system at Apartment Therapy.
A special shout out to Gina from Willow Decor for putting up a post about me yesterday.
And thanks to my Alberto for working so hard for me on this project.

I'm sure you need a little break from me, so today I am presenting guest blogger Dina Kucera. She's a wife, a mom, a stand up comedienne, a writer and occasional blogger HERE.

Losing Is A Feeling, Not An Event
By Dina Kucera

I see a little boy, six or seven, wearing a baseball uniform. I ask if he played a game. He said yes. I asked if he won. He said, "We don't have winners or losers." I thought, oh yes you do sweetie. Your parents are lying to you, sugar.
I look up at his father and he says, "They just have fun playing the game without all the completion." What?


When I was a kid, we had winners and we had losers. Period. Sometimes you won. Sometimes you lost. The key is finding the thing that you win at the most. Wondering if you would win or loose WAS the fun of the game.
Mentally handling 'winning' was easy. You smile and coast through your sweet life until the next challenge. If you were deemed a 'loser', your brain went into automatic 'wait until we meet again, I will annihilate you if it kills me'. It's called competition and it is something we face every single day of our lives. You may be six or you may be sixty, we all crave that feeling of winning.
When I was in the ninth grade I was a gymnast. There was another girl on the team named Andrea. We were in constant competition to beat one another. I could not miss one day of school because Andrea might learn a great stunt while I was out. One day Andrea said to me, "Your socks are inside out." This provoked me into channeling Nadia Cominich and becoming the greatest gymnast that cafeteria has ever seen. Shortly after that, still in ninth grade, I was pregnant with my first child and quit school which a another story. But who really won? Andrea? I think she went on to college and got a law degree. Big deal Andrea. Your dress is inside out.
My point is that it's wrong to try and shield the kids from any sad emotion.
They don't have winners or losers?
You can not function in the world without knowing how to respond to losing. It's the same as hearing the word 'no'. It's everyday of our life, it's a part of our life, it is life.
A sports guy said, and I quote, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser."


You know who had this attitude? Nadia Cominich. All the greats! Michael Phelps! Robert Downey Jr.! Bea Arthur! They all wanted to win! And they did! Michael Phelps didn't say, "I just have fun flipping around in the water in my speedo." Are you kidding? He said, "I will win."


So let's get out there! Get that parking spot! (In a courteous way).
Take your place in the grocery store line! (If it is truly your turn).
Whiten your teeth and smile at everyone!
Never allow your husband to win an argument!
Wake him up and remind him you won the argument!
Let's get out there and kick some ass!


Because guess what! There are winners! And there are losers!
And unless I have to paint a picture or make something out of clay or balance a checkbook, I am a winner! I won! How do you like that Andrea!