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The other day while watching my kids play soccer I noticed that one of the kids was really competitive. He wanted to win so badly that be pushed and knocked the other kids down. This kid was Rocky Balboa with a soccer ball *y'all! You could almost hear "The Eye of the Tiger" playing in the background! This child wanted to win so badly that he didn’t care who he hurt in the process. Also standing on the sidelines was his mom loudly egging him on, “Thata boy junior show ‘em whose boss!” (!) *Y'all know my emotions nearly consumed me at that point, and I almost yelled for my kids to give Junior a taste of his own medicine-times two. But thankfully the Holy Spirit kept me from acting a fool, and I just prayed that lil Rocky didn’t knock out anymore children. I also prayed that his mom would open up her eyes and see the big picture. We as parents should be careful not to transfer an overly competitive spirit to our children. We should assure them that we are proud of them whether or not they win or lose.
The soccer episode made me think about the competitive spirit in each of us. A little competitiveness is okay and can be an excellent motivational tool. But just like too much of anything it can also be bad, in some cases –even dangerous. Overly competitive people will stomp on anyone or anything that gets in their way. They don’t care who they crush, because they are only consumed with winning.
When I was in the military someone that I used to be involved with (who shall remain nameless) used to compete with me on a lot of things. He wanted to get promoted before me so badly that he conveniently forgot to get my promotion packet signed; yet he ran his packet right in to the commander’s office and had the commander put his signature on his packet, and so he was able to submit his in on time. The result was my packet did not get signed on time, so I missed the cut-off score and did not get promoted. I was devastated because this person that claimed to love me hurt me because he didn’t want me to get promoted before him. When I confronted him, he had the nerve to get upset and said that he didn’t do anything wrong. He said that I was seeing things, when in fact anyone with eyes could see what he did; he stabbed me in my face! (Yes, I said face!), because his overly competitive spirit wouldn’t allow me to beat him at anything. I have since forgiven him and moved on, but it made me think about how the competitive spirit can ruin many relationships if it is not put in check. Some of you overly competitive folks out there need to ask your self, “At what cost am I willing to pay to win?” If the price is more than you can pay, and you still take out a loan to pay it, then you need to seek help.
Signs that you may be too competitive; If you lose, and get angry and can't wait to spread your darkness around to everyone -you may have a problem; if you will beat your own mama down to win something -you may have a problem; if you watch that show called ‘
"Fear Factor" and you say things like “I would have eaten 50 live roaches and a skunk’s tail to win"- you have a problem. If your leg has fallen off and you still keep running to make it to the finish line to win-you definitely have a problem. I know I am exaggerating a little, but I hope that I got my point across. Winning isn’t everything. Sometimes we are so preoccupied with winning that we can’t enjoy the ride.
Can anyone out there relate?
Be Blessed *Y'all.
2 comments:
Okay! Isn't it just a pathetic thing to see overly ambitious competitive folks pushing everyone around? They think they are so together when in fact they are not. Don’t get me wrong, it is good to be competitive and ambitious, but one has to realize that there are other people around that like it or not are in “your space” and these persons are not on the same page. An overly competitive soul will make deals with the devil to get what they want. They don’t care about people’s feelings or situations. While I am in management, (for how long I do not know…) I try to help people develop themselves into productive and self sufficient employees. I hate micro managing people, because honestly it is more work! I try to see and motivate the potential in the people I manage. Now there is a difference in a trifling spirit. I do not like trifling lazy people. They cause discord among a team. Being competitive is okay in its place. But when that competitive spirit makes one loose site of their integrity and compassion, then that person is dangerous especially if they are in management…after all for the most part people leave jobs because of tyrants in high places, and yes, God help you if that Pharaoh heart is an overly ambitious competitive individual.
Ms. Allene,
I agree with you.Competitiveness in its place is okay.
Thank you for your comments.
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