“My only competition is the person I was yesterday” – Unknown
Dear Life,
Psychology class taught me about conflict theory and its division of people into two groups: the one is focused on cooperaton working together towards something, being a part of a team. The other is competition based and its members strive only to always be the best, regardless of others.
I believe, Life, that even in pretending I was cooperative, I’ve spent the majority of you being the opposite, desperately trying to be the best at something, just so someone would acknowledge my talents, my worth, my sole existence.
Everything was a competition to me which, in my eyes, I was constantly failing. This made me try even harder to gain everyone’s (or just someone’s) respect, turning you into a vicious circle of failure, Life.
This week I met someone who’s a lot like the me from twenty years ago: always keen to shower anyone and everything with never-asked-for-and-seldomly-accurate-wisdom, pressuring for others to believe their words so as to elevate everyone’s opinion of them.
This encounter reminded me that somewhere in my past, Life, I’ve strayed from my base camp and have found solace on the other side of competition. Thankfully, I liked the ambience here much better, as now, years later, being cooperative keeps rewarding me with growing amounts of inner peace.
There’s less fighting, there’s less frustration, there’s less seriousness. There’s much more room for fun, laughter, and, most importantly: others.
If psychology is right on this one, I feel I am on the better team now. There’s more people willing to help each other out, and even if you don’t excel at something (or anything), there’s acceptance and kindness all around.
Being competitive is a lonely walk and I thank you for leading me the opposite way.
You and I, Life. That’s teamwork.
Heart to Follow 
Being on this spaceship called,” Mother Earth”,
Is a beautiful success story in itself,
There was nobody like you,
There is nobody like you,
There will be nobody like you,
You are that uniquely precious,
And that applies to every single one of us,
Every single one of us is a success story!!
Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you 😊
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My pleasure.
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Could complete cooperation and complete competition be a spectrum with other states in between? Sometimes the best approach to life is a combination of the two, it seems to me. J.
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Naturally, as nothing in life is ever truly black-and-white. I can be competitive, sure, but at times and not as a way of life.
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Find rest in things that keep you safe and secure. Also, rest and retreat before things get too tough.
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Hear hear, Tony. I felt so out of lined with the person I thought was (still) in the competitive camp, it’s when I started to really see it’s when you give up on trying to make everything into a competition that you stop losing and start winning. So much to gain if only we let go a bit.
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