Competition

Several years ago, I was playing soccer with a group of students in Venezuela. Now, the first you have to understand is, I am built like a defensive lineman and not a soccer player. So during our little friendly match, I was out of my league. I tried really hard but just kept playing awful. At one point, I had the ball and this little dude came by and stole it from me.

I saw red!

I wanted to punch him in the throat, but I’m a Christian and this was a church function.

At that time, I knew I had to walk away. Luckily, our time was up and the game ended.

I learned that day that I have an underlying competitive nature but it can get a little out of control if I let it. It is why I struggle with games especially if I am not very skilled. I get frustrated, angry, agitated, and I am not much fun.

It is easy to get frustrated and angry when we are not doing well. We blame our team, our circumstances, or even the game. But I wonder if we consider how much of our frustration is on us?

We preform at the level of our preparation. If we are not prepared to compete, we are going to struggle. That shouldn’t stop us from competing but it should help to inform our expectations. If we don’t perform well, we can evaluate how we can be better prepared next time.