Competitiveness Isn't ALWAYS the Best Approach!

Without a doubt, we live in a very competitive world.

The whole idea of competing to be the best, and competing for success is instilled in us from childhood both at home and starting in grade school.

Sometimes it feels like one of the most significant values for life we are taught is that we must always strive to be "leaders" and to be "number one." The idea of simple "performing well" and to the best of our ability almost renders us losers.

But is that always the best approach to life?

Although I often compete with myself to try to improve my performance and skill at something, during most of my life I have been more oriented towards cooperation than competition. Truth be known, many of life's problems are actually easier to solve if you work with cooperation as opposed to competition or even conflict.

I guess one of the things I have never much liked about competition is this extreme drive some people have, in which they are not only striving for excellence but they are also trying to succeed at the expense of those around them. In other words, it's not enough that they win, they also have to make others look bad and push them to fail.

Frankly, I just consider that bad sportsmanship. If you tripped up your main competitor, you didn't really win, did you?

But quite a few people in this world believe that that's how the game is supposed to be played. And whenever I encounter something like that it actually makes me feel kind of sad. As a people; as a species; as a community, can we not do any better than that?

Small wonder so many people end up fighting and small wonder that so many of these petty conflicts around us end up being full blown wars.

Being "the best" at something is perhaps a noble thing to strive for, but not when it starts to cause harm to others or to the environment around you. Winning is just not that important!

Now, you might think words like these would come from the mind of a "loser," but it was actually an important part of my consideration many years ago when I was seriously considering joining the professional golf tour. I was very likely good enough, but I didn't have that "cut throat attitude" that seemed to make "winners." So I chose a different path.

I suppose we all have to discover what fits us best in life. Some people seem to thrive in extremely competitive environments.

I just don't happen to be one of them!

Thanks for visiting, and enjoy the rest of your week!

How about you? Are you a very competitive person? Or are you more "cooperative," by nature? Do leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2023.05.02 00:15 PST
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