Saturday, December 08, 2007

Go Compete!-----Sunday Scribblings

Sunday Scribblings is encouraging us my us write about Competition.

Competitiveness is necessary in life, at least a bit of it. Otherwise, we tend to get stagnant. Right from our infancy, we compete for attention. We learn early how to seek notice from others. That is the start of competitive spirit. It is inborn ability of every human being...

I have competed against my brothers, wanting to do better than them. I have done so much better,in some instances. It has helped me, in my growing up years. In school and college, I have not really done that. I used to set myself a goal and do my best to achieve that. The competition aspect never entered it in the way, it is meant to be.

As a teacher I think, students need to compete against each other, which should be positive and healthy. Each can push the other to do better. I have encouraged this and seen it happening. However, they need to be told of the pros and cons too.

What is most difficult is to compete against oneself. I do it all the time. I try to win against myself. That fight is the hardest of all. That is the best battle of all. We have to measure up to ourselves. The day we think, “I have done it all” then the downhill starts.

Going uphill should be our goal, however difficult it might get. At every step of our life, we are competing in one way or the other, against siblings, friends, colleagues or ourselves. Can we truthfully deny it? I don't think so!

29 comments:

sage said...

Another good Sunday Scribblings prompt--nice take on the theme of competition. I may have to participate again this week--but my Sunday is going to be filled, so we'll see. Here today from Michele's.

Beau Brackish said...

I know exactly what you mean. I have always been competitive in all my endeavors, and extremely difficult on myself. My best seldom feels like it is ever good enough so I continue to strive for perfection, which is an elusive state of mind. Whether it was in sports, school, work or my writing, I feel I am in a constant struggle to win my own approval. I'm not sure where that comes from, but it can be absolutely maddening.

Excellent post, as always.

Tumblewords: said...

Excellent post, as usual. You always put so much thought into these prompts!

I think I figured out the blogger thing - I have 'old' blogger which is somehow appropriate! So I'm not faced yet with the switch you 'new template' bloggers have. I could be wrong. Again. Grin.

AscenderRisesAbove said...

very thought provoking.

and thanks for the html for blogger links in comments. (so annoying - hopefully they will fix this soon!

< a href="http://ascenderrisesabove.com/wordpress/">AscenderRisesAbove< /a>

AscenderRisesAbove said...

well that did not work very well ;-)

Granny Smith said...

An excellent take on the prompt. I think competition is a mixed bag - sometimes constructive, sometimes just the opposite.

Jennifer Hicks said...

I don't know competition can be so belittling and is so masculine...there is room for it in some cases but really i feel it fuels anger and jealousy...

paisley said...

your post makes me wonder if my lack of a competitive edge is what has allowed my life to become so lackluster.....

very thought provoking piece....

sandierpastures said...

and sometimes, competing against ourselves is tiring. Sometimes.

sandierpastures said...

I forgot to add, my sunday scribble is here: http://theparentingdiaries.com

Google just changed the blogger comment forms and I can't enter my URL.

Anonymous said...

Ah but to me compeititon always results in expectations which in turn may lead to different emotions..like happiness/ disappointment, and so... I am always hesitant about how I feel about a competition..but the best kind like you pointed out is against one-self, afterall winning control over the mind is the toughtest of all competitions..thank you.
UL

Forgetfulone said...

Going uphill should be our goal. I like the way you put that.

Michael K. Althouse said...

I believe it is our nature to be competitive. It brings out the best in us. I also agree that competing against oneself is the greatest challenge. Trying to be better today than I was yesterday is the ultimate goal.

Michele sent me,

Mike

Robin said...

Very well put Gautami. I think that as long as it's kept in proportion a little competition, particularly against yourself, can be a healthy thing. I don't think we'd strive nearly as far without it.

Rob Kistner said...

Excellent post Gautami, and I agree... life is competition -- simply to survive and grow is a competition. Everyday, in one way or another, large or small... competition!

Anonymous said...

excellent essay, gautami.

i am afraid competition over here starts the moment the child learns to walk. :( It's a double-edged sword, isn't it? you can't improve if you don't have it, but it also give us undesirable traits like envy and dishonesty...

dsnake1

craziequeen said...

I like your writing, gautami. Michele sent me back to say hi.

I don't compete. I don't compete against others and I don't compete against myself.

Sometimes I think I should, but I don't - too scared to lose, I think.

cq

June said...

It's such a fine line between healthy competition and competition that's destructive. You're right, we're always competing...even if just with ourselves. I think only in death will we stop.

By the way, I'm not sure about how this new comment format works. I don't see a choice for Typepad, so I guess I'll use my Google mail ID.

Devil Mood said...

It's the fight for survival, for recognition, for affection. We all have ways to captivate other people's attention - striving to be better is one of them.

I had a good time being competitive in school, it made me a brilliant student, excuse my lack of modesty ;)


Love is Stronger Than Pride

Anonymous said...

Great post! As I read it, it dawned on me that employers also put us in competition. Who gets the bigger raise, who gets stock.... it's in most aspects of our lives, even if we don't realize it.

Dee
http://pavinganewroad.wordpress.com

Kristi Tencarre said...

I don't think we can not compete in this world. Even if we try not to, others are competing against us and therefore we are in the race, even unwillingly.

Frances D said...

Your opening paragraph was short and simple and told an immense truth.
And thanks for the above info regarding all that's going on here at Blogger.
Namaste

Cyn Bagley said...

Hi there,

I understand about sibling competition. I have four sisters and four brothers. For some reason, my sisters have not given me much competition (except in the child-bearing field and I opted out.)

But for everything else, I ended with my brothers competing with me (I am the oldest.)

Because I needed to keep them in mind, I have finished my college degree. Three out of the four brothers have degrees now.

What makes this exceptional is that we are the first ones to get degrees in the family.

Yahoo! So hooray for competition.

Giggles said...

Very thought provoking!

awareness said...

I'm completely with you here! I think we are constantly competing. Your post reminds me of a healthy competition my daughter had last year with a boy in her class. They pushed each other in their academics.....always determined to do better than the other. It was a motivating experience for both of them.....and allowed them to see their own real academics strengths.....what they shared and what subjects they individually did best in.

Have a great teaching week!

Crafty Green Poet said...

Excellent post, over here too often the education authorities want to remove competition to avoind children feeling inferior, forgetting how important some element of compeitition can be.

Preethi said...

Excellent Post - I loved the lines ... The day we think, “I have done it all” then the downhill starts.

Bone said...

I agree. You make some excellent points. I think I have a very laid back personality. But once I start to play a sport or a game, I become pretty competitive.

I think competition does help make everyone better. But for me, in the end, I'm usually my own toughest critic.

susan said...

Thanks for commenting. With respect to competing with peers, I am not completely sold or encouraging students to compete against one another. I believe it is better to encourage them to set goals and strive to reach their own desires. What will it matter if they are 'better' than other students? What matters more to me is that we strive not to stagnant or medicore when we are capable of being so much more because of who we are and not how we compare to others. jmo