Competing vs. Winning
June 18, 2008 @ 5:38 p.m. by Joannaby joanna
I’ve been on a short vacation — camping in Minnesota with the boys. Now that is fun…. and stressful…. and many sleepless nights. I haven’t camped in many, many years, and let me tell you, this girl who is used to having fans on in the bedroom heard every single noise of the great outdoors. I heard the campers next to me snoring, I heard every snuffle, I heard when the birds started chirping at 4:19 a.m. I am sure that I heard a deer on the other side of the fence. I do not lie. But it was fun.
When I came back yesterday, I checked the blog and loved this following comment so much that I read it aloud to my husband. Here it is, from Joey Fatone:
“I think “Competing†should replace “Winning†in this discussion. People who learn to “Compete†take losses in life much better and it makes them stronger as people. People who learn to “WIN†usually dont handle adversity well because they consider themselves “Losers†when they don’t. What is the negative opposite of “Competitingâ€? I would much rather have my kids know as competitiors in life than winners, because you are stating their are losers when you do. Just my thought.”
This is a great, great post by our resident ‘N Sync. It might not seem like much of a difference, but it is. I am in complete agreement, as well, that competition is great, win or lose.
Winning is great, losing sucks, and both are a part of life. How do you handle it when life throws you a curveball and you lose out on a job or a girl or a house?
Your thoughts?
June 18th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I still see some value in Hall of Fame NFL coach George Allen’s quote of “winning is living and losing is dying”.
I haven’t gone so far as to not eat beef because the cow “lost” (which is why George Allen would only eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) but I do believe that as long as the United States of America is a capitalist nation, winning is certainly important in all facets of life.
With that said, Joey Fatone’s comments are certainly inspirational to those of us (including myself) who fail at certain endeavors. But ultimately failure can only be conquered by victory or some shape or form.
Competing is the only way to achieve victory, but victory should still be what is celebrated.
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June 19th, 2008 at 7:42 am
When life throws me a curveball, I like to keep it simple and just say…screw it.
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June 19th, 2008 at 9:30 am
What the heck is a “snuffle”?
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June 19th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I like TFL’s comments. As you know I am a track nut. Not one time did I ever step on the track thinking that the silver or bronze medal would be okay to win. If you do not strive for the gold and work your rear off to get it, silver will always be what you will probably go home with. In track not matter what event it is, there is always a clear cut winner.
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June 20th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I hadn’t thought about winning vs competing in this way but I have always taught my kids to compete hard and not give up. I have never pushed them to win but have pushed them to give it their all.
A person can always choose to compete but they can’t choose to win. As my mother always said “Work on what you can control and don’t worry about what you can’t control.”
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