Competition - Creation

         My father loved competitive sports as a young man. In college, he taught one of his friends to play tennis. When the person started out, my dad critiqued him for hitting the ball too hard. The person responded, “I’ll get the placement down eventually, right now I want to learn how to hit with power.” And through work and practice, he did. Soon, he was beating my father, who is a finesse player rather than power. Not overwhelmingly, but effectively - his strategy had the potential to dominate and dictate my father’s reaction.

         The point is control and proactiveness. I am studying business in my senior year as an accounting/finance major. One of my classes deals with strategy - being aware of the nature of the environment, narrowing the focus to accentuate strengths of myself and my team. Knowing what I want to do, and keeping track of the effectiveness of my actions, evaluating opportunities and choosing which fronts on which to compete.

          Everything has a cost. To excel in everything will have a personal toll on my emotions, time, and patience. Most people pare down on commitments to maintain their sanity, imposing edges and frames to enclose a pretty picture. Such limitation is not cowardice, but a coping mechanism, a worldview by which they measure themselves against internal and external expectations. You can ALWAYS do more, but should you? Diminishing returns do apply - risks which are not worth the anticipated reward.

How much is enough? What will satisfy yourself? A good, honest day’s work, a feeling that I have accomplished something, made progress. Too much leisure is taxing as well, becoming a cage of a different kind. There is a balance between them. Leisure gives my mind an intangible reward in the form of a period of no obligations, a freedom to think and dream, listen and laugh. Work gives an outlet through which to apply the knowledge, make real the dreams, fund the leisure time with productivity. The weight of responsibility exercises my mind and body, testing my ingenuity to formulate solutions to issues.

I shouldn’t worry. Anxiety is good if it is a spur to press on rather than a barb which paralyzes decision making. But worrying about things I cannot change drains time from being expended towards things I can affect. Picking my battles, and realizing my position. I can be useful, I have to maintain a level head and be alert to opportunities in which to help.