Gracious in victory and defeat

I get most of my piping-related news from pipes|drums, an online magazine that updates every few days with news, advice, polls, and other tidbits related to all things piping. It’s assembled and edited by Andrew Berthoff, a piper and judge based in Toronto, and is a good one-stop shop to keep updated with what’s going on in the world of bagpipes.

A semi-regular feature is an interview with a well-known figure in piping, and the current interview is the third installment of a chat with Willie McCallum. Willie is without question one of the top pipers in the world today, and one of the most wildly successful competitive pipers of all time. I saw him in recital once and he was introduced as “The World Hoover” because he goes all over and sucks up all the prizes. To say that he’s a good piper is like saying that Tiger Woods is a good golfer: true, but somewhat of an understatement.

The full text of the interview is for paying members only, but there was a quote that really stood out for me. In the second part of the interview, p|d acknowledges that even the great Willie McCallum doesn’t always finish first, and asks how he deals with not winning. Willie’s response:

I was always taught to be dignified whether you won or you didn’t win… So if you play well and you win, great; you don’t go crowing about it; you just enjoy the moment. If you don’t win, you take it on the chin and you move on and you congratulate the guy who won. It’s a healthy way to be.

What a fantastic quote, and a lesson everyone can learn. I will certainly try to keep this in mind during my competitions, and I advise others to do the same. It is a healthy way to be, and life is too short to get upset about things you can’t control that really don’t matter in the long run.