Grace In Defeat

Kyle Thole, Website Editor

Being an independent, the ongoing race for the presidency between Joe Biden and Donald Trump has reminded me of something it seems people have forgotten: the importance of being graceful in defeat.

Personally, I don’t have a strong opinion for either Biden or Trump for winning the election, but as the results started to look grim for Trump, his reactions made me realize how little humility is found in leaders and celebrities that people look up to. 

Losing is something that happens to everyone, whether it’s in an argument or playing a game. How someone reacts to losing or being proved wrong is an important part of someone’s character, and I believe showing respect for the other side is vital to growing as a person.

Once someone is thrown down, getting back up instead of moping around is essential to learning from mistakes and improving oneself.

These lessons are not something that I feel like many leaders and celebrities display or teach to the people that look up to them. Just look at how the current President reacted to losing the election. He is claiming that he was cheated out of re-election without concrete proof. Even some people who support Trump think he is making baseless accusations. And Trump is just one example of this. While most other cases don’t get this extreme, I do not think that people in positions of power and influence teach their followers the importance of losing with grace as well as I feel they should. 

There are definitely some celebrities and leaders that do teach people this lesson. For example, Keanu Reeves is a humble person and teaches people the importance of it. I think there are a lot of athletes out there who also teach this lesson, however, the opposite can be found in athletes as well.

This is not supposed to be a political essay or opinion, rather a reminder of the importance of humility, and how much it needs to be taught to young people. It is what allows people to grow and change over time. Even though I doubt many people would overlook its importance, I feel it is something that many of our leaders and heroes do not teach to their followers.