Are We Too Competitive?
Are we too competitive'
Are you a little competitive' Would you consider yourself a RAGING
MANIAC when it comes to a good competition' Welcome to Competitors
Anonymous.
You are competitive if you compete as you drive on the freeway--you
know, you pick a car in front of you and pretend it is the Indy
500. You are competitive if you believe that the rule in driving is
simply to catch up to the car in front of you!
You know you are a raging maniac when you find yourself trying to
take down your eight-year old in a game of GUESSTURES. We have
family game night at my house once a week and my husband has
actually banned me from playing for a month because of what he
called, EXCESSIVE CELEBRATION.
Okay so maybe I shouldn't have pushed her so hard when my team got
the word, "HUDDLE!" I get a little out of control when I play
games. But it's all in fun, right'
They say men are typically more competitive than women, but I think
we just compete differently.
Last weekend I entered a Tae Kwon Do sparring competition--well, a
friend of mine had signed up and when she became ill, she asked if
I would take her spot so she wouldn't lose the registration money.
What's a friend to do' I couldn't see her lose forty dollars!
I thought, 'How hard could this be'' I had been taking lessons for
a couple years and enjoyed the exercise in the sparring matches. It
would be fun!
Are We
Too Competitive?
Are we too competitive'
Are you a little competitive' Would you consider yourself a RAGING
MANIAC when it comes to a good competition' Welcome .....
WELL...no one told me that they are out for blood in these
competitions!
As I sat stretching before my match I watched this young 'man boy,'
maybe eighteen or twenty, throwing punches and kicking to warm up
and he looked MAD! He looked over to his opponent and said under
his breath, "Prepare to die!"
DIE' What was he talking like this for...it's just a friendly game
right' Wasn't this all about exercise and FUN' I wanted to go out
there and spank him or at least put him in time out for poor
sportsmanship, but thought they might throw me out.
I leaned over to a woman sitting next to me and whispered, "Who is
he' Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride' Here to avenge his
father's death' My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father.
Prepare to die!" She started laughing and said she loved that
movie. We were like the old Siskel and Ebert duo. Chatting about
movies.
I was in the middle of telling her that I had watched The Princess
Bride at least 50 times, when all of a sudden, my coach pulled me
back and said, "She is not your friend! She is the enemy! That is
who you will be fighting in a few minutes!"
Enemy'! What is everyone talking crazy for' This is just for
FUN!
And at that moment, the young man boy threw a kick to his
opponent's head and it landed right on his nose! Blood was spurting
out everywhere and by the sound of it, it was broken for sure.
Oh my goodness, what did I sign up for' Was this some secret
underground fight club and only one person was supposed to come out
alive' Did my husband secretly arrange for me to be here when he
was out of town to teach me a lesson' I'm not that competitive!
I started praying. Please don't let me bleed too much. I just got
this uniform and blood is so hard to get out. Lord I will be nice
when we play card games at home from now on!
A Georgia
Superhero!
One thing I've loved since I was a little boy were superheroes.
Believe me, I read so many Superman and .....
I looked over at my secret movie pal, Siskel, now with fear in my
face. Luckily she had the same look in her eyes.
Fortunately for both of us, there is a lot less rage, stamina, and
oxygen for that matter, in the over forty women's division.
We both went out to the middle. We shook hands and bowed. When they
said "Sijak" which means "begin" in Korean, but always reminds me
of Pat Sajak and makes me want to buy a vowel, we began.
Become An
Expert
Everyone focuses their web marketing efforts on search engines, and
while this is a large part of traffic generation, .....
Punch, kick, punch...huff, puff, huff puff. Kick kick kick. Whew,
huff, puff. I don't know what it looked like from the side, but it
definitely didn't feel like the ultimate fighting match we had just
seen before us.
All of a sudden, Siskel threw a pretty solid punch at my chest, and
then she immediately said, "Oh, sorry!"
I busted up. I laughed at the thought of us, two ladies who should
be exchanging movie reviews and recipes for desserts, out here
punching and kicking each other and then apologizing for it. I
laughed so hard, my mouthpiece came flying out onto the mat and
then she started laughing. She said at least it wasn't my teeth! I
got a side cramp. They had to call time so we could compose
ourselves.
We finished three rounds and the score was 8 points to 4. I took
home a gold medal and realized it WAS FUN!
I only wish I had video taped the match so perhaps my husband would
lift the ban on my playing in game night!
About the Author
' Gina Schreck is the 'Cheerman of the Bored' and she helps
people Reconnect with What Matters Most! She is the author of
several books, including Inside Out Success: Reconnecting with What
Matters Most, and Marriage Mechanics: A Tune Up for the Highway of
Love! She speaks to organizations that want to improve
relationships from the inside out. To contact Gina, call
303-978-0887 or check out her website at http://www.schrecktalk.com/
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