The Art of the Good Life #27 : If you break on the outside.

The second part of the Circle of Dignity series is about maintaining the upper hand no matter what happens.

The example given was a story of a Vietnam veteran who was supposed to be paraded through the streets to show the world how well-treated US POWs were treated. Moments before he was supposed to be paraded, he bashed his face so hard against a stool, his face became bloodied so much so that the Vietnamese were no longer able to use him to make a public statement.

Although I sort of get this advice, I would hesitate to attempt such heroics. I mean, if I die, I would not be able to see my kids anymore. What's personal dignity anyway if you lose your chance to see your family in the end ? Instead, I think it's better to bend even if you sacrifice your personal dignity in the process.

But still, in my own little way, I am able to put a smaller principle into practice.

What I hate are sore losers when playing board games.

There is always this breed of gamer who overcompensates for his lack of real world achievementso he treats a gaming session as a matter of life and death.

My principle is that a sore loser should never be allowed to win board game, even if this means that I lose badly.

There was this Settlers of Catan game I played where the sore loser was on board. I clearly had the lowest point so I was losing badly. But before sore loser was about to win, I turned to a friend who was one point behind and asked him what resources he needed to get his last victory point. I then traded the resources for a nominal resource.

At my successful attempts at Kingmaking, the sore loser flew into a rage.

That remains one of the most satisfying board game experiences I ever had.