Monday, December 27, 2010

What competitive nature?


As I sat down this lazy Monday evening to peruse through my latest Runners Magazine, something struck me as I was looking at their list of 2010 Running Heroes. These incredible men and women strive for excellence in all their running endeavours. They long to be the best in every event they participate in. In fact, most of them want to be better then the best, they want to be the ultimate super best. Yes, that exits.

They are constantly working to improve their finishing times, their speed and of course, their overall performance. Each of these runners want to hold any and all records for half marathons, marathons and also shorter runs. The one trait that all of them have in common is the competitive drive.
In the dictionary online, " 'competitive' is defined as having or displaying a strong desire to be more successful than others".

Honestly, I don't think I have that in me. I never think, "Wow, I really want to be better at this than her or him."


If someone were to carefully examine all the personality traits in me, I am certain the competitive gene would be missing. I must have been absent the day they were handing it out. I just don't have it. But I'm not sure I want it either. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of seriously competitive people. They are usually angry when they aren't the best at whatever it is that they are doing and sometimes take it out on others. I feel like the complete opposite of all that. I mean, what's the point of all that competitive nature if it leads to sadness and aggression if the ultimate goal isn't reached?

I don't know... Perhaps, I would be a more successful person in life if I had a little more of a competitive nature in me. Who knows? However, I really don't think there's anything wrong with instead of working towards being the best out of everyone, simply striving to do the best that you can do. That's exactly what I do. I strive for my own personal excellence. I guess I compete with myself occasionally but is that really being competitive?

Are you competitive? How so?

4 comments:

  1. I'm a competitive person when it comes to sports or games. I always want to do my best and hopefully beat everyone but I also think its important to know how to accept defeat and be a good sport about it.

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  2. i am so not competitive and it ticks me off when people are overly competitive about stuff.

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  3. I have enough competitiveness in me for both of us.

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  4. I'm not competitive at all. All I do is try my best, and that's good enough for me. My son and husband, on the other hand, are crazy competitive. If I'm playing a video game or something with one of them, and I beat them, they want to keep playing until THEY win. Drives me insane!!!

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