Grace in Defeat

You hoped it gets lighter,
But it always became tighter,
The moment you win,
The bar raises, higher and higher.

With few to tell what went wrong,
You pull yourself out of the abyss,
Still shaken from the fall before,
Trembling and rattling, you keep walking.

The shattered heart feels the worst,
To stay confident amidst turbulent times,
To be mad amidst the epiphany of a realist,
To choose the road less travelled.

The victor gets many laurels,
But there is a Grace in Defeat.
It's easy to smile when you win,
Can you do that in your defeat?

Your heart yearns rest, but the show will go on,
And hence you persist picking your battles wisely.
Growing wise and humble, with every defeat,
Less scared and less broken in spirit.

Oh dear universe, give me the strength!
To let go of the battles, I can't win with grace,
To keep the embers burning, in the ones that matter,
And to be wise to know the difference.