No Competition? What a Crock!

Last night as I walked in circles around my family room at 11:45 pm trying to log a few more steps before I went to bed, I realized once again how competitive I truly am. It’s not that I’ve suddenly become obsessed with keeping my heart rate up. It’s more that I am in a competition with some co-workers to see how many steps we can log in fifteen days. We are obviously not going to win at this point, but each day presents a new challenge to climb up the leader board both individually and as a team. And this is one time that competition is causing a healthy change in my life.

As we putt-putt golfed with our “buddies” last week, (students who have been chosen to be mentored by faculty and staff) we were unable to golf the entire course due to newly laid carpet. Since we were all rather crammed into the back nine, we opted not to keep score. For someone like me, who is totally motivated by trying to get the least amount of strokes possible, it was a challenge to simply play for the fun of it.  I have to admit, I even caught myself keeping score in my head.

Competition is fun for me. It’s not so much about winning or losing, but it is about working to improve your performance as you compete. I have to admit that it’s not always a good quality to have. It is difficult for me to enjoy playing games with a large group that really isn’t trying or paying attention. It is hard to want to compete in a game that I already know that I am terrible at. Sometimes I envy people who truly do just enjoy playing for the fun of it without caring a bit who wins and who loses. Even as I write this post I am checking my Fantasy Football score every few minutes. Admittedly pathetic.

Which brings me to my upcoming weekend dilemma; the annual chili cook-off. I should start by saying that I am generally a pretty good cook; at least that’s what people tell me. I have some specialties such as pot roast and all the fixins’, soups and such. But every year I enter a pot of chili in the competition, and every year I lose. I have tried different recipes – one was even a recipe that a great friend of mine has won two chili cook-offs with. Was it a winner for me?  Noooooooo! Even that year I dejectedly returned home with my “crockpot of shame.”

But this year I am determined to enjoy the night and not be concerned with the competitive nature of the couples’ chili cook-off. I’m going to focus on how awesome it is to taste all of the different kinds of chili that people come up with and enjoy the fun and laughter that always accompanies the event. I am going to make a huge pot of chili that I love and not worry about whether or not the judges or my friends will like it. After all, I’ll be bringing most of it home.

Stay tuned….I’ll let you know how that works for me. J