Losing is not easy.

But there are good losses and bad losses.

In a good loss, you’ve done everything you can. You did your best. Things were reasonably fair and you just came up short.

In a bad loss, you feel like you were cheated — either cheated by others, or cheated by yourself.

It’s the second one that’s harder to take. That you could have been better-prepared. Or more focused. That you had it within you, but you just didn’t do the right things at the right times. Or you were a little lazy and it ended up costing you. Any loss like that is tough to swallow.

We don’t try to lose. But when it happens, let’s make sure they’re good losses.