stop competing with other

There was a runner who used to clock the best time in practice but when it came to finals he would fail. He wasn’t able to beat the champion in any race. After several races he found that he came closer to Gold(1st) but he always landed up with Silver(2nd). His coach wasn’t able to figure out why he missed the first spot even when in practice he used to clock the record timing. A coach of a competing nation was aware of the runner’s condition and how he missed the mark in every race.

The new coach thought of helping this runner and one day decided to capture his race on video. The runner still came 2nd. Now both the coaches came together and saw the runner’s tapes. The new coach noticed that the runner in his last lap would turn his neck around and see who’s behind and it was during this time he would lose ground and speed. It was at that moment that the competitor would gain time and beat him in the race. They shared these observations with the runner and suggested him not to look back at point of time during the race. In the next competition, he followed the advice and to his amazement he won the race with a big margin. He also went on to win all subsequent pages.

We make the same mistake in our daily lives. We look back, notice others and let the observations hijack our concentration towards our own tasks. We are more interested in our neighbor’s life instead of lour own. We are more interested in what our colleagues are upto instead of focusing on what we have to do. We are more interested in analyzing decisions of our family members instead of being interested in our own. Today if you ask anyone for advice, they would have a thousand ideas but if you quiz them on their own lives, you’d find them clueless.

When you compare yourself with others, you get stressed. What happens when you share with your friends that you are going to Kerela for a honeymoon, while your friend shares that he is going to Europe? How do you feel when your friend tells you that he has got a promotion and would be getting a personal cabin while you are still getting the plain basic yearly increment? What happens when your friend shares that her boy-friend is tall, dark and handsome while yours is short, fat and not so attractive? Such comparisons may lead to dissatisfaction, not always but most of the times.

And with this feeling of dissatisfaction, you don’t feel good about yourself. Eventually, the fun of your holiday, career or boy-friend dies a slow death. You are no longer happy and content. With such low energy emotions you don’t feel passionate about life and forget to live it completely.

You should know that when the grass looks greener on the other side, feel glad that you have a garden and some grass to mow. When the glass is half filled with water, please appreciate that you have a glass and some water in it. When your shoe doesn’t look attractive, please be happy that you have legs and you can wear shoes. When your boy/girl friend is not so attractive, please thank God that he has sent someone to love and care for you.

Stop competing with others, instead be happy in the gifts God has given you. Make the most of your current gifts and God will shower more of such gifts, even better, in your life. What you appreciate, multiplies in your life. It is important to feel good about yourself and life with what you have. When you feel good, you act and make decisions better when compared to when you are low and dissatisfied. The secret of abundance lies in feeling good about one self.

If you truly wish to compete with someone, compete with the person in the mirror. Become better every day and take each moment as an opportunity to grow yourself mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. When you start competing with yourself, you begin to grow faster than ever but when you compete with someone else your performance benchmark is your competitor’s highest mark. Don’t let competition restrict you and stifle your growth. Liberate yourself from the urge to compete with others and begin competing with yourself.

By:Nishitlal