The Winner Takes It All

It’s ironic how the ones who lose the most are rarely the ones who get to tell the story.

Everyone talks about the hidden pain of being a winner, but I don’t see anyone talking about the suffocating reality of being somewhere in between—enough to be among the crowd, but never enough to climb the stage.

Life is nothing but an endless tournament. It is a continuous game of striving for the top—the first place, the medals, the applause. But with every victory celebrated, someone has to carry the burden of something no one wants: failure.

Ever since childhood, I was taught to do my very best—to push myself beyond my limits and triumph over my biggest obstacles. That cliché reminder became the force that drove me to win, to pursue every achievement and opportunity I could. Yet somehow, no matter how hard I try, some goals remain unattainable.

There was a time when I set myself up for yet another disappointment: aiming for a High Honors award. Like every student chasing that title, I did everything I could. I led, I participated, and I performed.

I thought of it as my biggest shot, my last chance before my Grade 11 marks were permanently engraved in my records for college. But as my adviser called out the names of those who made it, my name was mentioned only as an “almost.”

Ninety-four—high enough to be appreciated, but low enough to be disappointed in.

Recognition Day came, and I watched my classmates receive and take pride in their achievements. Yet when my name was called, not even a faint smile could be seen on my face. I crumbled beneath the questions flooding my mind: How? Just how can someone do so much and still not reach it, while someone out there seems to take it effortlessly?

It made me wonder: in a crowd full of people deemed “average,” how many of them are actually winners if only the stage would let them? How many of us are suffering in silence simply because of a small gap?

Ironically, one of my favorite songs by ABBA wasn’t written for winners. It’s for losers like me—those who did everything they could, only for the winners to have it all. It’s for the people who bravely fill the halls with applause while feeling hollow deep within.

Sure, maybe the winners do have it all. Maybe the world gives them everything because they are able to reach for it themselves. But for now, there’s one thing I own that they can’t have—something I’ll keep to myself: the song, “The Winner Takes It All.”