The Competition For Your Life

At first blush, it would seem our society deplores competition, except in sports. Even that is being watered down at the youth level as participation awards gain more traction over actual improvement in the skills of the sport. But look a bit deeper, and you may be surprised to discover that competition is not only widespread in almost all aspects of living, but indeed, quite healthy.

Let's lightly dissect what competition is and isn't. An immediate impression may be that competition implies something negative, such as rivalry, some form of struggle, or even antagonism. There is a winner and a loser. It sounds harsh and hurtful. But is that all it is? What if we were taught from very young that life is built on competition and each competition is a chance to reach inside ourselves and do better than last time. What if we were taught from very young that we love the chance to compete because it stimulates us to do our best.

In school, it is well understood that grades are meted out for a variety of projects, from book reports to major tests. What is less well-understood is that those grades actually serve as a form of competition among the students. In fact, even if studying alone, tests serve to stimulate the student and encourage improved performance based on how well they performed against their peers.

But where are the health benefits of competition? It has been acknowledged repeatedly throughout the scientific community that keeping one's mind and body active keeps people young and vital throughout their older years. The same can be said for younger folks, indeed, for all people. Friendly competition such as a rousing round of golf or table tennis; a chess game, or even a hearty debate, stimulates the brain, improves the thinking processes, gets the blood flowing, and invigorates and enlivens relationships.

From school, to work, to sports, to exercise, to any kind of problem solving, it seems that competition is much more than rivalry or one-upmanship. We are, after all, social creatures, and competition is most certainly healthy considering that it creates a stress that motivates us to push ourselves further and accomplish more than we most likely would if we relied on self motivation alone. Each competition creates an opportunity for us build on the strengths of the past, shore up past weaknesses and helps us continuously grow to be our overall best self.