Victory always tasted better... Yet Loss always motivated me

I sat before the board, counting the seconds as they passed.  Was this stress?  Was this disappointment?  No, I was relieved to see that the game was over.  I couldn't think of anything as I let the match sink in. 

How had I done it?  How did I get the checkmate? 

I couldn't think, after all, it was my first victory ever.  I sat there for awhile.  Why did I feel nothing at all?  The taste of victory was nice, but it was always short-lived, fleeting, evanescent...

I thought back to all my losses and remembered the push I had, the need to improve, what supported that need?  What was it that made me motivated? 

I realized, then and there, that though victory always tasted better, it was loss that always motivated me to improve...

A journal entry dated back to september 2007.  I wonder to myself if I still think this way.  ^_________^  what are your opinions?