In Contention

Daily Prompt: Competition

What activity, task, or game most brings out your competitive streak?

I don’t think I have a competitive streak. There are people scoffing as they read this. There are people that I know who say that I am the most competitive person that they know. They do not know me very well and they mistake one thing for another.

Competitive sports bore me to tears and you will never, ever get me to run a race or go head to head with anybody. I am happy to lose at chess, but enjoy it more if the battle is close fought. Most of the time, I do not even want to take part, let alone win. I’d rather be at home with a good book than on the terraces supporting “my side”. I do not have a side. Exams are good. I like to do well in exams. I don’t need to come first, but I do like to gain a Distinction.

My normal assessment of self is that I am a bit of a Performance Artist. This is reflected in the fact that I don’t do the things that I am not good at.

What I do:

  • I like to do well.
  • I enjoy pushing the boundaries of what I do.
  • I hope that I always improve on my performance in everything that I do.

In short, my only competitor is myself and I thoroughly enjoy doing things that allow me to stretch my abilities. The only remotely competitive thing that I get involved in is the Industrial Show Bench. Oh, boy, do I get involved. Months of planning, week after week of knitting, hour after hour of careful selection of entries… seeking the best of what I have done in the past 12 months.

So, when I enter 20 or 30 items in the local Annual Show, and end up snapping an array of prize cards… there is no gloating over the lesser performance of others, no feeling of triumph at having beaten anybody. Just a sense of satisfaction in keeping up my own standards.

No. Really. I truly am very happy to see others win and to appreciate their skill and to learn from them. I’ll be back next year though, to see if I can bring my skills up to match theirs. I shall be entering new classes too, just to see what else I can achieve…

…but you won’t find me wheeling up to be presented with any prizes in front of an audience. Let me keep my profile low – winning is embarrassing, placing is best.

Actually, there is one thing that I like to win at – I do love to snipe a good eBay bargain in the final few seconds 🙂

9 Comments

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  2. March 24, 2013
    Reply

    I coudn’t agree more… well said: “my only competitor is myself”!
    Appreciate and learn others skills is always a winning attitude, there’s always something to learn… even in the most unpredictable places and persons!
    Thank you for the share…

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