<p>These past few weeks, I have been enjoying the Cricket World Cup on TV. Even if I cannot sit through an entire match, I make it a point not to miss the last few overs. Of course, the end is not always exciting, with the game hanging in the balance. In an unequal contest, there is no suspense, as when a team has to score a great many runs in a couple of balls.</p>.<p>Everyone can predict the outcome, but what strikes me as remarkable is the conduct of the side about to lose. Their shoulders might sag, but otherwise they give no indication that things are not going their way.</p>.<p>They continue to bat or bowl, as the case may be, with the seeming confidence of those who are within reach of victory.</p>.<p>Now, one might find this foolish, since we know that a favourable result in such a situation is not just improbable but impossible. We would do well, though, to learn a lesson from this apparently unrealistic attitude.</p>.<p>After all, unlike the above-mentioned cricketers who battle bravely despite being doomed to defeat, we have every expectation that, if we expend effort, our endeavours in various ventures will bear fruit. </p>.<p>‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ is a proverb that not only has rhythm but reason. Through the ages, great personalities have proved that almost anything can be achieved with patient persistence. Thomas Alva Edison famously said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Others might not have expressed themselves quite so dramatically, but they possessed similar tenacity and trudged their way to the top. Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and JK Rowling come to mind, as do several more who perhaps are less familiar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Returning to cricket, let us pause to think about one of the nations, currently in India, striving for championship glory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For twenty-one long years, players from South Africa were unwelcome overseas because of the apartheid policy of their government. That South Africa is competing for the World Cup today is because a man named Nelson Mandela stood strong. Undaunted by brutal opposition, he fought to the finish, turning struggles and setbacks into stepping stones to success.</p>
<p>These past few weeks, I have been enjoying the Cricket World Cup on TV. Even if I cannot sit through an entire match, I make it a point not to miss the last few overs. Of course, the end is not always exciting, with the game hanging in the balance. In an unequal contest, there is no suspense, as when a team has to score a great many runs in a couple of balls.</p>.<p>Everyone can predict the outcome, but what strikes me as remarkable is the conduct of the side about to lose. Their shoulders might sag, but otherwise they give no indication that things are not going their way.</p>.<p>They continue to bat or bowl, as the case may be, with the seeming confidence of those who are within reach of victory.</p>.<p>Now, one might find this foolish, since we know that a favourable result in such a situation is not just improbable but impossible. We would do well, though, to learn a lesson from this apparently unrealistic attitude.</p>.<p>After all, unlike the above-mentioned cricketers who battle bravely despite being doomed to defeat, we have every expectation that, if we expend effort, our endeavours in various ventures will bear fruit. </p>.<p>‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ is a proverb that not only has rhythm but reason. Through the ages, great personalities have proved that almost anything can be achieved with patient persistence. Thomas Alva Edison famously said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Others might not have expressed themselves quite so dramatically, but they possessed similar tenacity and trudged their way to the top. Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and JK Rowling come to mind, as do several more who perhaps are less familiar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Returning to cricket, let us pause to think about one of the nations, currently in India, striving for championship glory.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For twenty-one long years, players from South Africa were unwelcome overseas because of the apartheid policy of their government. That South Africa is competing for the World Cup today is because a man named Nelson Mandela stood strong. Undaunted by brutal opposition, he fought to the finish, turning struggles and setbacks into stepping stones to success.</p>