The journey

Image courtesy of my first year university roommate, Tamara. Thanks ;)

Competition is a scary thing.

I find myself competing at times with the kids I tutor to come up with a better way to say something; a better sentence; a better expression. I don't tell them I feel this way, but a small part of me rejoices at the thought that I beat them. Sicko, right?

At school it's a little different. I'm elated when they solve mathematical problems and relish in the fact that they often beat me. I'm proud of them then. I don't try to out-solve them. Maybe this is a difference between math or science and literacy: my career versus my passion. I've always wanted to be an English teacher after all, but thought that a life surrounded by numbers would serve me better. It certainly has up to this point, hasn't it?

Back to it though...we compete all the time, don't we?

You haven't heard anything yet!
Wait until you hear my story!
That's f*ckin' nothin' kid!
(One time, when I was your age, I paid a thousand dollars for a quarter ;) hahaha)

Ah yes, I'm a classic one-upper. Sorry: it needed to be said. Even when I try to just listen, a small part of me is trying to steal the spotlight...trying to turn that old story around so that we will be talking about me in just a few short seconds. What a brat. Maybe it's only-child-itis. Maybe I need to rethink how often I'm one-upping.

Because when we get right down to it, life isn't a competition. This isn't about the best story or who knows more people at the right places. This is my life and that is yours. Your story, your journey is as important to you as it can possibly be, regardless of how important it is to me.

Here is the new mantra: If this is a competition, you win. And the picture is so right: this is a journey. It's long and it's complicated and everyday we make choices that affect the rest of the journey. But it's sweet and it's splendid when we take a second to see how far we've come.

Just-do-it-olution:
Stop competing--start journeying