I believe that we have to cut life in slices. We cannot just rush everything because then we will miss out on a lot of this. For example, right now I honestly just want to be in High school and be able to drive but I also want to still be a kid and just enjoy the life without any responsibility. I want those sweet childhood memories to hold on to and if I grow up to fast I won't have any.
I believe that's kind of what John Wooden is saying in this quote. In our life we will have failures and success but it will never last. I believe he is saying that those things matter but we can't take it so seriously. We have to be able to lose some and win some because that is how we build character and courage. I see building your character as a point system. The first time you don't talk during class you earn 1 point and when you hang out with a person no one likes your earn 2 points. This system goes on for the rest of your life and each time you get a certain amount of points you have to move on to the harder level.
Every time we win and every time we lose we build up our courage. To live the life you want you have to have courage to do the things that will get you there. Im not saying like cheating on an exam to get into law school because every action has a reaction. If you cheat on a test the reaction is first you won't feel good about yourself and you will most likely get caught. On the other hand if you have the courage to study until 4:00a.m. and lose sleep the reaction to that will probably be a good grade.
in life we have to separate what is important and what is not. For example winning the basketball game by cheating or losing with dignity. If you choose the 1st option you have no courage but if you choose the 2nd option you have the courage to be able to lose and that will help build your character. In my sports life most of the coaches I've had are all about the win. They want to win fairly though. Most of my coaches have told me if you put your all into and lose than you've actually won to. I never understood why they said that but now I do. It is because you win courage and in my life I want to chose courage over success.