I lost the battle but won the war

My worst nightmare happened, I failed. Well, not really, but I did lose my competition at the weekend. I did, however, win something invaluable that day. I won my respect and I finally learned something that I knew was true but never truly believed. I don't have to prove myself to anyone, I don't have to be something for other people, I just have to be something for me. I am proud of myself, I am proud of what I accomplished and what I was able to do and out of every victory I have ever had, I have never been able to truly say those words. It took losing to know what winning truly is, to truly know the meaning of success and not know it just by others definition of it. I am playing my own game now, fighting my own fight, this is my life and I will not allow it to be democratised.