BITTER OR BETTER?

“There is an art in defeat which noble souls always acquire; you must know how to lose cheerfully; you must be fearless of disappointment.” [UB 1779:05]

Thought Adjuster: “As you empty your mind and call upon Me to broadcast meaningful messages, here I am, doing just that. You were pondering the above quote and asked Me to elaborate. Indeed, defeat is a great teacher. Why is it so? Defeat brings people down to their spiritual knees, so to speak. It disciplines the unruly ego due to the fact that it is perceived as a sting to its pride. This is the reason why defeat can be used as a divine instrument for inner change.

“Look at the ego as an overinflated balloon at high risk of popping if more air is added to it. How would you prevent this from happening? The best way is to let some air out before reaching that point of no return. This is how defeat can work to your advantage.

“Life will present you with alternating winning and losing situations. What matters is that you view them all as growth opportunities. Whenever you feel blessed with winning outcomes, what you have to learn is not to let them get to your head and distort your self-perception by becoming overconfident and gloating. Both victories and defeats have to be acknowledged with gratitude and humility. Why should you be grateful for defeats? Because as in all life situations, there is always a silver lining that can benefit your spiritual development if you live with awareness. This is what wisdom is all about. “Wisdom comes only from the experiences of adjustment to the results of one’s failures.” [UB1779:06]

“Noble souls know how to lose cheerfully as they are able to quickly transmute their initial disappointment into something positive. In any situation, ask yourself what it teaches you personally. Little by little, you will learn not to view disappointment as your arch enemy but rather to look at it as revealing to you your next assignment—what part of you is challenged by it? Is it your Achilles’ heel? How can you best deal with it? The choice is yours. Will you be a sore loser, holding grudges and allowing defeat to make you bitter? Or will you maintain your inner poise and use it as a stepping stone to become better?”