Competition
I have a young cousin who recently wrote about her fears of not being able to compete on her facebook page. She is in High School and already a very accomplished musician, performer and generally an academic champ as well. From where I sit, I can see that the world is her oyster. She can’t see as far yet. I’m guessing she will eventually. Anyway, her post got me thinking about competition.
I read somewhere a long time ago that the Greek or latin root of the word we now know as competition once meant “To strive together.” It was said that in the original Greek Olympics, this was also the underlying ideal; to strive together to reach the highest expression of the physical activity being engaged in. This is very different than the focus of many sports now days where one person or team beats the other, creating winners and losers.
A lot has been said about how sports are a metaphor for life, and to some extent I agree. However, it is also clear that which metaphors we choose also structure how we create meaning in life. When we choose the competitive metaphor, it has consequences as does our choice of the cooperative metaphor. We can obviously see this played out on the world stage (that may be adressed in a different post) as well as in our individual lives.
Part of my cousin’s dilemma involved how to engage her world within the cooperative mindset when so many others around her are trying to compete with her. Indeed, if the cooperative mindset is placed in opposition to the competitive mindset, does it not become competitive? Perhaps not. What I told my cousin was that she had the choice whether to adopt the competitive mindset or not. I asked her, in the event that she chooses the competitive mindset, will she begrudge those she defeats their angst and sorrow as she begrudges those who defeat her their successes? I pointed out that choosing to see herself and her cohort as each striving for the untimate expression of their most genuine self had the potential to transform her, her interactions with her “competitors” and perhaps open the door to transformation within the wider community in which she lives.
My Yoga teacher defines Yoga in part as a non-competitive activity and that philosophy pervades everything we do in the studio. While we are each encourged to find our own ultimate expression of the poses in that moment, there is no comparing ourselves to others in the class. Sometimes when a fellow yogi achieves a particularly awesome expression of a pose, the class claps, but there is no envy. For me, the cooperative metaphor is the very essence of Yoga. No one is a better yogi or worse yogi. Those who have gone before offer paths for those who follow, sometimes we walk side by side. The path is wide. There is room for us all.
Namaste’
Scott
