Competition

For the most part, I have always had a free thinking mind. Not only walking, but customizing the path that I walk in life has been part of my pride as a man. As I grew up, I formed the view of living life my way. I had always been taught that everyone is different. Therefore, I usually did not see the need to be like someone else. Of course I had role models and friends that I looked up to, but I really never modeled my life after anyone's. However, that did not come without speed bumps and roadblocks.

Having fun in life is a main priority of mine. My time in this world is extremely short, and I am just an insignificant dot in the realm of time and space. Therefore, the only person my significance will matter 100% to is me. I lead my life with passion. I am not saying that I never get lazy and loaf about, but I use my time in life to do things I enjoy. That being said, I usually develop a passion for the things I enjoy. Passion is a great thing, but it can become destructive if not handled properly.

Take for example the nature of competition. Sometimes my passions lead me to competition. Competition is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can easily be formed into ill-natured. Once my passions become skewed past the level of fun, my life seems to be yanked to a halt.

To explain a bit about what I mean, I will tell about something fun to me that I sometimes take too seriously, and let my competitive nature wreck it. I play a video game called "Gears of War" online with friends and stranger sometimes. This is a video game a really enjoy, and tend to schedule time for, even if my life is busy. Even though I really like playing this game, I let it frustrate me.

Frustration sets in when I expect irrational things from myself. It is very rational to expect myself to do a good job on the game, but at the same time it is irrational in the face of fun. If I let competition and standards block the fun factor, why even play the game? If I get mad at something I enjoy, why even play it? My competitive nature sometimes ruins certain events in my life. I really do not like this truth. Therefore, I work on changing it.

Now every time I even think about this particular video game, I think about how fun it is, and about all the great times that have came from it. Then I think about when I am going to play it next. I think about how fun it will be to play with many friends and have fun. That is the key. Have fun. So before I even play the game, I totally accept that fact that I will either win or lose. Whatever happens, it will be a pleasurable experience.

With this type of mindset, I am able to place the game into my Xbox without any thought of stress. I can start talking to all my friends via my Xbox and fire up the video game. With this state of mind, not only will the experience be an asset to my life's enjoyment, but I am free to learn and ask questions. I feel no ill will towards people who beat me, and I can easily ask for advice. This leads to me achieving a higher skill level in this game.

This is only a video game, and it should not matter. However if I can conquer the speed bumps and roadblocks that a video game throws at me, I can apply the same logic to adversities in life. Being able to conquer life's pits allows me to easily make and walk my own path.