by Amanda Jane Snyder
Why You Need to LOSE in Order to Win
Our world is full of winners and losers. We see it in sports every game, we see it in movies and music with award shows deciding for us what is worthy of consuming and what isn't.
I am always losing.
In order to win, I must lose.
And the same goes for you.
How and why you ask?
In order to reach new pinnacles and new spaces and new places in my career, in my relationships, in my self-love, I must lose and let go of all that I believed to be true before.
It’s uncomfortable and it’s scary and there’s certainly a lot of resistance.
For who WANTS to leave a cushy job with benefits for an uncertain life as an entrepreneur?
Who WANTS to leave a comfortable relationship where you know each other and live with each other but don’t quite love each other, for a path towards potential loneliness to risk ultimately self love and greater connection and companionship.
Losing means to suffer, resulting in, or relating to defeat.
But we have to lose those parts of ourselves to grow stronger just the way a tree loses its leaves and flowers die in the winter only to grow bigger and brighter in the spring.
And if we don't lose or suffer, how are we to even enjoy the bright blossoming flowers in all their glory and greatness. Would we even recognize their beauty upon arrival?
I think of my old habits and thought patterns, my old way of life with my old friends and my old relationships and my old lifestyle with fondness, knowing that they rest in peace of the past. And I think of the pain that I endured during the moments of letting go of my past but I'm grateful for the joys that exist here in the present.
How would I ever be able to become vegan if I didn't lose meat and dairy from my diet? How would I ever form a new healthy and loving relationship if I did not first lose the one bringing me down? How would I ever gain this new beautiful luxury apartment if I did not first let go of my old one? How would I have the time for my business if I did not let go of my hours at the old tired job?
Release what does not serve you and lose all that's tearing you down.
For in order to win, we just first lose.
"That's what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning." - Richard Bach
Amanda Jane Snyder is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer, and Mindset Coach living in Brooklyn, NY. She has been vegan for 4 years. She specializes in Strength and Conditioning for Actors, Singers and Dancers.