MONDAY, JUNE 21, 2021 BEING COMPETITIVE - PART I

 MONDAY, JUNE 21, 2021 BEING COMPETITIVE - PART I

I think being competitive is a trait I have hidden from so many for so many years.  I can be very competitive.  

Really!!  I remember going with my neighbor to the apartment exercise room shortly after I moved in.  I could see her display, so I had to (a) go faster than she was, and (b) get more distance than she got.  And, I’m sure she wasn’t even thinking about that.  She was there to get her exercise, Shd had invited me as a new neighbor to check it out.  Was I trying to impress my new neighbor that I was able to walk faster on a treadmill than she could?  (Well my legs are much longer as a start).  Was I trying to show her who was the ‘boss’?  Pretty stupid!!!

When I was involved in the ICCP - Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals and I was monitoring others taking tests (and I had access to tests) I probably took certification exams in five or six areas - and got at least passing scores or high-passing scores.  Of course, I was a professor, of course, some of the questions I helped review or write, and I was pretty good at multiple-choice tests.  Just couldn’t stop being competitive.  

As I have aged and as my horizon has changed so greatly - and my ego has lessened, much of that overt competitiveness has dropped off.  I want all people to win.  I want love to win.  I want you to be successful in your endeavors.  

“Walk Humbly with your God” - it has taken some time to learn humility.  And, let me tell you, I am probably one of the most humble people around, maybe one of the most humble people in the whole world.  I WAS thinking of getting a billboard “KAREN WHITE IS SO SUPER HUMBLE” but not anymore!!!

Oops - sorry, there still is ego in my brain.  Getting knocked down by illness, by mental depression, through a divorce, losing my family, and especially my grandchildren has been a tough lesson to learn.  Learning to “Let Go, and Let God” is humbling.  Learning to be a woman is humbling - for a white, egotistical, conservative, Christian, male professor!!!  

But, I still have some competitiveness in me - but I compete against myself.

Eighteen years ago, I competed in the New Haven Labor Day 20K race.  20K is about 12.5 miles (I wish it had been 13.1 miles so I could say I did a half-marathon).  I worked hard that summer - walking 6, or 8, or 10 miles most days. (I found a training guide on the web).  I wasn’t that ‘competitive’.  I finished ahead of about four people, and behind maybe 2500 others that crossed the finish line ahead of me.  (It is a big race!!!)  But, I did it. I walked in the race but averaged about 14:30 per mile.  That is speed walking. 

Yesterday as I walked at the Georgetown Recreation Center (only three miles), my best time was 18:00 a mile.  It might be hard to say what my slowest time was as I take breaks and stop and check my phone, or sip my water or use the restroom.  So, I am competing against myself, not for a prize, but for my health.  

I have a strange goal that seems farther and farther away every year.  After his resurrection, Jesus walked to Emmaus - which is described as being seven miles from Jerusalem. The two men he walked with walked back to Jerusalem after he revealed himself. That was another seven miles - for at least 14 miles in a day.  Can I ever get to 14 miles (walking) in a day?  Doubtful.  Maybe I can get to seven miles in a day.

I do compete with myself on other (dumb) things.  

I’m currently at 607 consecutive days on Duolingo (I’ve been on Duolingo for 6.75 years - but interrupted my streak 607 days ago - so rebuilding that streak.

I’m at 1522 days of Flow Free Hex game (about four years - they seem to have a couple of ‘free days’ if you miss.  I have a 677 streak on a mini-crossword puzzle game.  I have a 327-day streak on the Bible app (and 120 weeks in a row).  I remember the day I missed - it was a Sunday (when you would have thought that I did some Bible reading).  

Am I being too competitive with myself?  What if I miss a day on Duolingo?  Will the world come to an end?  Or a day on the Bible app?  I think I have some false pride in keeping consecutive days going!!!

I have recorded walking 171 days this year (some days as low as 1.5 miles, and some days about 5 miles).  Today is day 172 and I will walk some today!!!  

Yes - I guess these are habits.  I think most of them are good - keeping my brain active, learning a foreign language (German), walking.   

I’d like to think of my competitiveness as being a positive trait - of sticking to simple activities.  

*****

But, there are times when competitiveness can lead to negative outcomes.  Winning at all costs (including cheating).  

In businesses, it seems like only the high achievers get recognition for their competitiveness.  “The top salesperson of the year is ABC.  What about the second, third, and fourth salespeople?  What about the whole sales team?  If you remember your statistics class and the bell curve, only about 7% of a large group will be the top group.  Most of your group are solid people - in the middle working every day.  What’s the message that management gives to recognize only the top people?  That the rest of you are only so-so?  You are not as good as the top folks?

There are those that never get recognition because the measurements don’t measure what they do.  The top salespeople get awards and bonuses, but how about the people who do the work behind the scenes that make the top people shine?  The accountants and bookkeepers who keep the supply chain moving or even the janitors and ground keepers who keep the facility sparkling clean.  

And, it can be that recognizing top achievers can create a push that is unhealthy such as a work/life balance.  I have friends who worked for the Big Four Accounting firms and the push to achieve lead them to work 70 to 90 hours a week.  How many times can you say to your spouse and family “I have to work late again today”?  And, most have moved to other companies!!!

Healthy competition - such (I hope) as my trying to be a little better on some of my activities every day - can be good - but competition can become unhealthy.

Is loving a competition?  Can I work harder to love all people?  Will I get an award for the most loving person in Texas?  (I hope not).  

Matthew 6:3 “But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

Lord, let love be my aim, not an award or prize.

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen