After several recommendations, from friends and from an assortment of media such as one of my favorite Podcasts Unlocking Us with Brene Brown, I recently started watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix and I highly recommend it! Without revealing so much that I need to include a 🚨🚨🚨Spoiler Alert 🚨🚨🚨, I’ll tell you a little about the series. Elizabeth, the main character who goes by the name Harmon, is a child prodigy at chess. Throughout the vicissitudes of her life, we watch her becoming a renowned chess player. One particular opponent she defeats becomes despondent immediately afterwards and tells her he cannot believe he fell for the strategy she used. She acknowledges that his error was foolish indeed but assures him that he will never fall for that same tactic again. You see that was just one game in a series of games he’d have to play to eventually become a world champion. As long as he kept showing up, kept learning from any mistake, he’d eventually win the main prize.
She was alluding to a very important life lesson. Sometimes, it’s the battles we lose that help us win the war. They make us aware of weaknesses we need to cover. They destroy the weak part of our team so only the strong survives. They reveal the tactics of our enemy. We can use the knowledge gained from our losses and turn our small defeats into ultimate victory! Yet we have to be savvy enough to avoid the pitfalls of self defeating habits like: beating ourselves up, or giving in to feelings of shame or guilt. Shame and guilt are of the enemy and beating up on ourselves simply furthers our enemy’s cause. Instead we should view each perceived failure as a learning opportunity and grow from it.
Keep showing up; keep fighting the good fight and remember how the story ends.
We win!
clay and The Potter 