I'm a loser by default- hmmm

Internal struggle #359: Why do I always need to be a winner? Even when I'm clearly not, in any classic way an actual winner. Why do I always have to be rewarded just for showing up? Woody Allen said that 80% of success is turning up. Well I don’t know about that Wood-ster. I mean, come on? Really? Do we honestly strive to achieve anything anymore, or do we simply assume by birthright, that, of course we will? Achieve that is, not strive.
 
My latest educational obsession involves Generation Y and its foibles - one of which seems to be the united notion of failure by participation. That's not to say that we don't participate, in fact, it points to the fact that 'participate' seems to be all we actually do. No one is ever singled out as a real winner and given an early 80's style bowling trophy, obviously not for lack of talent but instead for fear of alienating the rest. And so everyone gets a cheesy participation plaque to send straight to the 'pool room' (non-Australian readers please ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUUVYlVYNR4). Agreed, I guess this results in fewer aggressive alpha type winners and if that is the goal - fair enough. Teary 4 year old pre-schoolers everywhere thank you. But in the end, if there are no winners, does that mean there are only losers? If we never have to fight to win how can we really expect not to lose by default?
 
By never having to deal with winning or losing and the feelings of elation along side disappointment are we really being prepared for the bigger picture successes and failures of life? A friend mentioned this at dinner and it's had my mind in a whir since approximately 3am on Sunday morning at the exact time it was mooted. She has a point. Will our generation be a blundering crowd of 'also rans' even though we run faster, jump higher, think bigger, drink harder, speak louder and fight smarter than any generation than before us?
 
Look, I don't mind participating - don't get me wrong, I float with the notion that life is about the experience; the journey as well as the destination. But lets call a spade a spade here. It's also about winning. And I want to win. So quit moddie coddling me and hand out a first prize, the fact that I didn't win will bug me for about 5 minutes and then I'll learn the lesson of failure and move on. Seems pretty straightforward to me. If 80% of success is turning up perhaps we need to spend a lot more time focusing on the 20% that results in the winner/loser divide and hand out a lot less loser trophies.