What Loss Teaches—If We Let It

The Oregon State baseball team had just lost a pivotal game on Saturday in the NCAA Corvallis Super Regional against Florida State, falling 1–3. A win would’ve secured their return to Omaha for the College World Series.

But on that day, the Beavers didn’t get the job done—something that happens to all of us in the game of life, business, sports, and leadership.

Still, they had a rare opportunity to regroup and respond in a decisive Game 3 on Sunday, with the series tied 1–1 and the path to Omaha still in sight.

After Saturday’s loss, Oregon State Head Coach Mitch Canham spoke to the media—not with frustration or excuses, but with a deep sense of perspective that speaks to every leader navigating adversity.

“Every moment this year has accumulated to this game tomorrow and what's beyond. Every time there's hardship, you have to look at it as a blessing. I walk away from the field today, and yeah, it's a bummer we didn't get the job done today—but at the same time, the Lord has blessed us with another day to get up and play baseball and be around one another, and that calms me,” Coach Canham said.

Our culture often fails to celebrate the beauty in loss. We’re taught to run from failure, to hide our wounds, to fear looking weak or imperfect. But the opposite is true: our setbacks are part of the curriculum and the game plan.

Regardless of spiritual or religious orientation, one of the subtle skills of great leaders is the ability to help teams cultivate faith—in the process, in one another, and in the long game. To help those reframe the sting of a moment and remember the bigger story still being written.

Perspective doesn’t ignore pain or minimize heartbreak. It places it in proper context. It allows us to zoom out so we can zoom in—on gratitude, purpose, and a deeper appreciation for what truly matters.

Setbacks aren’t disruptions to the journey—they are the journey. And what’s in front of us still deserves just as much energy as what’s behind us.

The sun will always set. But when it rises, we get to choose how we respond—to the challenge, to the opportunity, and to the gift—of a new day.

So if you’re facing a loss right now... if something didn’t go as planned...If a door closed or doubt is creeping in... let this be a gentle reminder: This isn’t your ending. It’s a beginning in disguise. And you have the unique opportunity to keep writing the narrative.

May we allow the losses, defeats and obstacles to teach us. Let them nurture us. Let them evolve us. That’s how a life—in any arena—is built: one setback, extracted into a lesson, at a time.

Every disappointment and loss carries a quiet invitation: Will you let this moment define you? Or will you let it teach you?

Coach Canham and the Oregon State baseball team chose the latter.

They let the loss fuel a teaching moment—and on Sunday, they punched their ticket back to Omaha with a 14–10 win over Florida State.

Another opportunity—and another day—now awaits Oregon State, and all of us: to keep competing, to keep growing, to keep learning, to keep believing, and to keep rising.

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