My only takeaway from India’s loss in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final against Australia was that no one gets everything they want. I couldn’t stop thinking how someone like Rohit Sharma would have felt about the loss because 1) he wasn’t the part of 2011’s winning team 2) this was very likely his last one-day World Cup tournament 3) he led the team from the front! And, yet, here he was, seeing his last opportunity slipping away from him during the match.
The reason I had only this one takeaway, I think, is because in spite of having stuff I “need”, it’s the stuff I “want”, the stuff I feel FOMO about, that keeps me awake. At times, I wake up in the middle of the night, my thoughts go on a rollercoaster ride (thinking — why am I not in a better city, why am I not getting promotion, why am I not earning more, why don’t I travel more, etc.) that prohibit my mind from sleeping. The next thing I know is starting my day in a sleep-deprived state a few hours later. It’s not a good feeling by any means.
Here’s hoping I can always think of players who have achieved/acquired/amassed a lot but not everything, who finished as runner-up in an event they knew would be their last shot at glory, keyword being “knew”. It’s far more difficult for a 35 years old player to accept the loss than, for example, a 25 years old player because the latter knows/thinks they still have a chance in the next tournament a few years later.