Everyone likes to win. Whether it’s a game of checkers, a race around the yard or competing as an Olympic athlete, we all like to be named the winner. But not everyone can win in an event, so how to handle being the loser becomes important. Here are a couple of ideas:
1. Be magnanimous. Congratulate the person/team that wins. If their is a procedure in place, follow it and say something supportive like “nice game” or “congratulations.”
2. Refrain from making excuses about why you lost. Perhaps winning was based on luck like a drawing for a prize. Or, it may be based on skills like in a sport or a time when you share knowledge as in a contest. Either way, look at what happened and think about how you might have done something different to have made “winning’ more likely. And, if there is no way you might have won, accept that you did your best and move on.
Holiday hype often bring out a sense of competitiveness and pushes young learners into actions that resemble ‘losing’. Maybe it’s the excitement around gift exchanges, atypical eating/sleeping hours or wishing you’d gotten what another person found among their gifts. Regardless, the two ideas above can be used to help kids through a perceived loss/disappointment/unwanted item.
A. Thank people for gifts or things done to support you.
B. Remember, while the outcome might not be what you wanted, gifts and such are given by individuals because they want you to have what they found for you.