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Growing up I never really thought of myself as competitive. Competition was for the boys, I was passive and kept to myself... This of course is a perception, I like to view my adolescent years through rose colored glasses tinted with My Little Pony and American Girl Dolls, though in reality I am sure my mother would inform you otherwise.
There are many forms of competition (I have since learned), sports aren't the only place where winning and loosing matters. Competition can be healthy or unhealthy, real or perceived. It is a fine line that brakes the two apart, like the seem in the frosting of a black and white cookie- virtually invisible (p.s. I'm craving cookies...).
Let us consider-
Healthy Competition: Working your hardest for a promotion or putting your best work in to land that big client.
Unhealthy Competition: Feeling like your friends (family etc.) think 'person x' is better than you, so you must do everything in your power to wipe even the smallest trace of them from your loved ones memories (because you were there first damn it!).
Healthy Competition: Going for a project, bidding on a client you know you are qualified for, even though the stakes are high.
Unhealthy Competition: Getting jealous of everything those around you are doing, because you aren't doing that thing (when in reality you don't want to be doing it yourself).
For me, Jr.High is where it all began. The competition for boys, for style, attention, success, I placed my value on these things and when I wasn't validated, when I "lost", it was earth shattering. At that age we can't decipher the difference between the important and unimportant items, because (as we sobbed to our girlfriends in the bathroom) it was all life or death.
Unfortunately, some of us never learn to tell the difference. At times, even those of us who have long out grown this childish form of competition can succumb to the power of perception and loose ourselves in the lies.
The truth is, win or loose, if you know who you are, do what you do well, and stay true to yourself, you will be just fine. Things will happen, you can't control the people around you, the best you can do is control how you respond. Again, let us examine wisdom provided by the black and white cookie-
"The black and white cookie. I love the black and white cookie. Two races of flavor living side by side in harmony"
-Jerry Sienfeld
Good and bad, up and down, everything needs it's opposing force... or at least that is what I keep telling myself (I also keep telling myself there is a competition between my brain and my stomach... my stomach usually wins).
So I ask you, who or what are you competing for?
xx
*photo at the top- Drew and our friend Bonnie competing over the corn queso at Kings Highway.
