Moonlit Missives is my February series dedicated to writing love letters to individuals and communities deserving of recognition and respect. Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to express love, appreciation, and remind others of their visibility and significance. Through these heartfelt letters, I hope to uplift, honor, and celebrate those who often go unrecognized.
A Love Letter to the Losers
After the Super Bowl, I spent time thinking about losing. About the way it guts you, the way it lingers. How painful and humbling it is to stand in the light of failure and not flinch. How impossible it feels to sit with it, to let it teach you something, to believe—against every instinct—that it might be the thing that makes you great.
We have all been, or will be, losers in this lifetime. Some losses are inevitable, woven into the natural progression of life—losing a loved one, losing time, losing versions of ourselves we weren’t ready to let go of. Other losses are competitive, tied to ambition and desire—losing out on a job, a game, a dream, a person. Either way, the sting is the same. The doubt creeps in just as fast.
But here’s what I know: we cannot be great without losing. I am convinced of this.
Losing is proof that you tried. It means you cared. It means you stepped into the arena, heart exposed, knowing there was a chance you’d walk away empty-handed. The ones who never lose? They never risked anything to begin with.
Losing is where growth lives. It’s the sharp edge that carves us into something sharper, something better. It’s the place where resilience is built, where perspective is earned. Winning may feel like validation, but losing? Losing is transformation.
So, here’s to the losers—the ones who know the bitter taste of almost, of not enough, of heartbreak. The ones who wake up the next morning and decide to try again. The ones who refuse to let failure be their final chapter.
There is no glory without loss. No greatness without failure. No legend without the long, aching road of getting back up.
Keep losing. Keep learning. Keep going.
Because one day, you’ll win in a way that only a loser could truly understand.
The Forty Files 