Never-Loser!

I don't much believe when people say that healthy competition can bring the best out of people! I don't really think any competition can be healthy, because of the simple fact that human beings cannot easily tolerate others when it comes to a race. When you announce a wonderful prize, even the lame would think of joining the race, and if people want to win by all means, then they will not bother about the means they choose to achieve their goal. It might become a matter of life and death, and where is the scope for friendly competition, and getting the best out of people. In fact, competition may be the occasion when not only the best, but the worst may also surface.

It always happens on the road. When I am on the road on a motorbike, and see a stranger speeding and passing by me, I am hurt, and I turn the gear spontaneously with the hope of throwing this stranger behind me; there is a silent competition, and I cannot let the stranger ride his bike faster than me. Unconsciously I feel I am a loser in comparison to this stranger, who is a completely new person and whom I will never meet in life! But on the road, you cannot talk about healthy competition. If someone is going to over take me in speed, it is shame on me, and I have to show that person I can ride the bike faster than him. The joke is that that person may not even be aware that I felt threatened and wanted to over take him!

The fact is, it happens all around us. Not only on the road. When I go for a walk in the evening at the nearby park, I often would like to make sure that no one overtakes me, that I am faster than all the others. When there is a smart looking youngster over takes me, I feel terrible. I chase my feet, at times even putting undue pressure on the poor legs. Wherever and whenever there is a competition, I would like be the winner, whether I am qualified to even take part in it. There is an in-built mechanism in me to win all the time, irrespective of the field of specialization or the occasion. Does the notion of healthy competition ever occur to me? I really don't remember that happening in real life situation.

But I cannot allow myself to enter into uninvited competition in all the places at all time; that would only lead me crazy. I cannot stop getting into the road, lest someone overtakes me; nor could I stop going for my customary evening walk. I have felt a way of handling this situation and it is quite simple. Before I get into my motorbike, I tell myself that I am not the best rider on earth, and instead of entering into an uninvited ad hoc competition, I would acknowledge that I am not going to compete with anyone, not even with myself. I don't really care if someone wants to show off that he/she can rider better than me, faster than me! It really does not matter to me. If I really mean these words, then there are possibilities that I may return home sane and safe.

There is a secret way how I can always win in a competition - it is for me to determine if I win or lose. The magic mantra is this : I deliberately and consciously decide to be out of competition. I am not going to prove to anyone (least of all to myself) that I am better than all the rest. I am aware of what I am, and am satisfied with my performance in the past and in the present. I am happy with my credentials, and need no more, especially from the once-in-a-life-time strangers. This sort of self-talk can take me a long way in reaching the full potentiality I am truly capable of.