Participation more important than winning
Participation in any activity, competition, sport or team work is far more important than who wins or loses at the end. There are two broad mental attitudes – that of Collaboration and that of Competition. Healthy competition, that helps you grow and learn is good competition. But competition that is against the other, or that is based in negative emotions is unhealthy competition. True competition is about being happy in other people’s happiness. You need to give your best to every activity, and then leave it to chance and circumstance to decide the outcome of your effort. The biggest lesson is to learn to be happy in other people’s happiness.
There is another mental attitude which is distinct from Competition. And this attitude is of Collaboration. In Collaboration you learn to work in a team, you learn to work with others who can be very different from you. You learn that you can only succeed if you work together as a team. Alone it is very difficult to grow or learn in life. And when you are working in a team – it is always the team that succeeds or fails, that wins or loses. You are responsible for your participation and contribution in the team.
To focus on team work, not on yourself; to focus on your participation and contribution, not on winning or losing – is probably the most important lesson in life.
By Janhavi
EdgeArticles 