Lose Like a Winner

?You?re fired.?

?It?s not you, it?s me.?

?Thank you, but our princess is in another castle.?

Lose like a winner!

You might have heard these before. Failure and rejection are unfortunate realities of life. Somebody?s got to win and somebody?s got to lose and, whether it?s a game of football or ?America?s Got Talent,? the odds are often stacked against you. Face it: no matter how chiseled your features, high your IQ or great your golf game, you?re going to see some other chump get the girl, the job or the trophy you wish you had. You?ll better your chances of success, however, if you can learn to channel your rejections into positive energy.

Don?t you hate it when you submit a hook to an R&B singer and he rejects it because it doesn?t ?fit him as an artist?? Oh, that never happens to you? Odd. Well, it just happened to me and, to be honest, it got me feeling pretty down for a brief amount of time. What I had to remember is that dwelling on my rejection and treating it like an end-all is the worst possible thing I can do if I want to get a cut with another artist. For all you people who don?t write slow jams, think about the last time some girl turned you down. Did you let it get to you? Did you go home that night, down a bag of Tostitos and watch ?Garden State,? thinking to yourself that you?ll never find a Natalie Portman of your own? If you did, snap out of it. Self-pity will do nothing to better your situation. If it?s a girl you?re down about, take some advice from the Pet Shop Boys:

?It’s just a boy or a girl. It’s not theend of the world.?

Next time you fail/are rejected, take it in stride. Man up. People respect those who fail and can still walk away with their chin up. Respect yourself enough to know that one rejection is not going to stop you from accomplishing what you set out to do. Give yourself more credit. Highly accomplished people fail all the time. Every major athlete knows what it?s like to lose a game. Have you seen any Eddie Murphy from the mid-90s on up? Do you know what makes these people successful other than talent?They?ve got perseverance, stick-to-itiveness and a failure to give up. The Red Sox ended the curse and Eddie Murphy?s actually hosting the Oscars this year. No matter what your obstacle is, there?s always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Why not thrive on challenge? If you?re going after something, whether it be it a woman or the high score on Skeeball, enjoy the ride, laugh at your failures and move forward. Life would be incredibly boring if everything was handed to you. So you got turned down by 10 women in one night? What about Ms. Eleven standing in the corner? And if she?s too repulsed that you chased after every girl in the room, don?t let it get you down. You might have to throw in the towel tonight, but they?ll be another club full of women to pester tomorrow.

I?m gonna get back to work on my music. There are plenty of other R&B artists who?d love the hook I just wrote. No matter what you?re going for and can?t seem to attain, remember it?s all within your reach. Now, does anybody know R. Kelly?s number?