Competition
I was out running tonight and I finished my run right in front of the pool. I decided to take a look because there was a swim team competition there. It was fun to see the parents watching their kids compete. I began to think about Haley sports and competition.
I was not brought up to be competitive in sports. My dad perhaps afraid of what he could be like if he let himself go was reserved in encouraging us to compete. He was a skinny athletic guy who said he was never good at sports but I think he may have been. I also think he was probably pushed to compete when he didn’t want to and he was afraid of doing the same thing to us.
My dad also liked to workout but he never wanted to work out with me. Working out to him was all about working hard and there was no social, or fun in it. As such I think I hated working out for a long time because I thought it had to be hard and work.
Recently Haley competed in a swim meet. She participates on a swim team for kids with disabilities. She really enjoys swimming and is quite good at it but she is slow. At least she was before the operation because she was fighting with her self to kick in spite of her spacticity and had to remember to move her arms at the same time. When she competed even in the disability league she still came in last or next to last and believe it or not they were actually handing out ribbons. I have no problem with this and they were giving ribbons to all the kids but they said the place they finished so the ribbons did indicate how well they swam. My daughter didn’t particularly pay attention to her placement or how she swam compared to the other kids. She was just having a good time which is great. But sometimes she asks “why are things harder for me”, ” Why am I always last.” Right now she really wants the results from the operation to help her run at least as fast as the slowest boy.
So I’m watching this swim meet and reflecting on my thoughts on competition, how I was raised in respect to competition, what I think about competition as a direct result of how I was raised, what I think about competition in respect to my goals of running a half marathon, and I realized that I really don’t know what to tell my daughter about athletic competition. And then I realized that I do or at leas I think I do…
1) Sports are important. They are social and keep you healthy. They are a fun way to work out.
2) Some folks are into competition in sports and that’s cool. Sports is one area of life where you can compete with others but they are not all about competition with others. Sports are about doing as best as you can and being your best. You can compete with others but there will always be someone better and someone worse. That isn’t a reason not to compete and your toughest competition should always be you. If you work your hardest people will want to keep playing with you and they will help you do your best.
3) There are other areas of life where you are going to do better than other people and you want to help and encourage those people in that area of life who are trying to do their best, just like you want to be encouraged where you are trying your best.
4) There is no reason you can’t work out with friends.
Oh yeah and one more thing. My daughters ask me if they could run with me tonight before I was leaving to go. So I promised them that I would take them on a run tomorrow.
What do you think? Do I have the right perspective? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
