Attitude Determines Outcome

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” Grandma told Ben when he began complaining that he wasn't going to win.

         Grandma, Ben and Linda were playing a new game that Grandma had bought for them. As this was a new game to all of them, Grandma had the rule book out and had had to remind Ben several times about a rule that he kept breaking. 

         Ben was not the greatest sport in the first place. He took after his mother that way. Anytime that he began losing at anything, he would chastise himself, calling himself stupid and pouting.

         Linda, on the other hand, would whine when she was losing and then want to quit the game. Yet, Grandma persisted, hoping that she could make good sports out of them. 

         “Grandma,” Ben complained, “I am never going to win. I am going to be last like I always am.”

         With that said, he slapped himself on the forehead, then put his head down on the table, knocking game pieces on the floor. Linda took this as a challenge to make him even more miserable.

         “Ha, Ha,” she teased, “I am in second place but I am not too far behind Grandma. I can catch up and still win. Look how far behind you are. You will never catch up.”

         Ben looked up, groaned, put his head back down and began rubbing at his eyes. Grandma couldn’t tell if he was really crying yet or if he was rubbing to make himself cry. Either case could be true with Ben. 

         “Linda, do not tease your brother. That isn’t nice, nor is it necessary. Ben, stop rubbing at your eyes like that and sit up. The game isn’t over until it is over and everyone still has a chance to win. Stop that whining and complaining. You are being a bad sport. It is just a game.”

         Both kids groaned at that speech. They had heard it all before. Grandma was always trying to tell them that it wasn’t important who won. She always told them that what was important was to play the game and have fun. They, of course, disagreed.

         When Linda’s turn came around, she attempted to skip spots when moving her token. Grandma caught her and called her on it.

         “Linda, what have you been told about trying to cheat when we play games?”

         “Um, not too?”

         “That’s right.”

         “But, Grandma, I wasn’t cheating.”

         “Then either you are having trouble seeing the board or you forgot how to count.”

         “What do you mean, Grandma?” Linda asked, eyes opened as wide as they could go, feigning innocence.

         “You know full well that you skipped blocks on the board. Your token was here, you rolled a seven, and you moved eleven spaces.” Grandma answered, demonstrating with Linda’ token what she had done.

         “But I want to be there, not there.” Linda stated, beginning to whine.

         “Okay, that’s enough. You two are too old to be acting this way. At nine and ten you should know better than to behave in such a manner.”

         Linda took her token and placed it in the correct space, then began whining that she couldn’t get anything in that space because it was blank. 

         “Now, Linda, you know you can’t get something on every turn. Ben, it’s your turn.”

         “I’m just going to land on a plain block. Do I have to move? I’m going to lose anyway.”

         Grandma had had enough at this point. 

         “Okay, fine. If you want to declare yourself the loser halfway through the game and you want to whine and cheat then this game can be over right now.”

         “No, Grandma, no, we’re sorry. WE will play right. We swear!” both children began begging.

         “If we are going to play, then we are playing correctly,” admonished Grandma.

         The children agreed, although Grandma already knew that it wouldn’t be long before they were back to their same old ways. She always hoped that it would change at some point, but so far it held true, and today was no exception.

         “Linda, move your token to the correct spot.”

         “But I like this spot. If I go to that spot, I have to skip a turn.”

         “So you just have to skip a turn. Ben, it’s your turn.”

         “Okay, but I’m just going to lose anyway.”

         “Yes, with that attitude you certainly will lose.”

         Ben groaned again. He hated when Grandma told him things like that. He always wanted to win, but he just wasn’t as good at games as his sister and his grandma were. Deep down, he knew that if he would focus a little more on the game, he might have a chance. However, he also knew how much his big sister cheated, and that made it even harder for him to have a chance at winning.

         Grandma drug Ben out of his thoughts by nudging him on the arm and reminding him that it was his turn. He sighed, grabbed the dice, and rolled. It was not the number that he wanted, and he groaned again before moving his token. 

         Linda grabbed the dice and got ready to roll. Grandma pointed out that it wasn’t Linda’s turn, it was hers. Linda began whining again, and wanting to quit the game. She was tired of playing, she was bored, on and on. 

         Grandma pointed out that she had offered to quit the game and that they had begged to continue. Ben spoke up, saying that he wanted to continue.

         “Let’s keep playing, Grandma, even though I know I’m going to lose.”

         Grandma took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out. She looked at Ben, and then at Linda. 

         “Are we going to play this game correctly, or do we quit right now?”

         “We’ll play right, Grandma, we promise.”

         Grandma picked up the dice and took her turn. Next was Linda, then Ben. For about ten minutes, the game proceeded in the correct manner, then Ben rolled a five and landed on a block that made him go back three spaces. He immediately began to whine again that he was going to lose.

         When the game finally ended, Grandma was the winner. As she picked up the pieces and again reminded the children about the fact that attitude goes a lot towards determining outcome.