Whiners and Winners

In an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, Opie decides he wants to win a forthcoming race.  He trains hard, does his best, and comes in last.  But the boy refuses to accept defeat graciously and instead mopes all the way home.His father, played by Griffith, scolds him for his poor attitude.  “It don't take courage to be a good winner,” Opie’s dad tells him.  “But when ya lose, that's the hard part.  That's when you take yourself in hand, show it ain't gettin' ya down, and that you're a good sport about it...When you do that, you'll be on the road to becoming a mature human being.”The folks who are lighting up the Internet and airwaves with their vituperative responses to the presidential election would do well to take Andy's message (written by David Adler) to heart.  So too should those on the winning side who are focusing on the wrong things by gloating about their victory.It's time to move beyond such pettiness and get to work on rebuilding our fractured nation –together.*  *  *This episode, "A Medal for Opie," is available on DVD here.  (I don't profit from the sales of this, except spiritually!)Read more about the ethical intelligence of the Andy Griffith Show and more in my book, Ethical Intelligence, available at your local library, favorite independent bookseller, or here.Subscribe to my free ethics newsletter here.  I do not give your information to anyone.  Period.