Tuesday, February 20, 2007

COMPETITION DRIVES SOCIETY..................

Yes, competition drives society. Every human being wants to prove himself better than everyone else and hence he tries to perform better than the other. If competition would not have existed we could not imagine the progress we have made. We could not expect the magnificent creations and development in the field of poetry, dance, paintings, pottery, weaving, monuments and everything we have. Whether we agree or not but it is behind our scientific inventions too.It is good as long as it is for the good of society & environment.

It provides a backing force, an incentive to strive harder. Competition verbally means: a test of skill or ability; a contest. It also means an act of competing, as for profit or a prize; rivalry. One word, but different connotations: one positive & other one a bit negative. The same is with the source and the outcome of competition.As far as it is originated from a good thought it always leads to goodness but what if the source is negative? Yes, negative source!

If competition emerges from the sense of insecurity/jealousy it leads to destruction. Since ages the kings and kingdom had been fighting wars that were also due to competition but there was destruction. Expansion of one kingdom at the cost of downsizing the other can’t be termed as construction. If not healthy it generates jealousy and malicious feelings.

Positive competition is actually stirred by the feeling to give best and to challenge our limits to stretch our limits to go beyond the horizon of our limitations. If we always depend upon the external factors we can’t always become best. If we always concentrate on victory & defeat we are tend to concentrate on other person’s defeat rather than our victory. We may be motivated to defeat anybody but not to win ourselves.

Benchmark, obviously we need a bench mark. Sometimes it is set by someone else and sometimes by us. But if we are always motivated by the standards set by others then will we always governed by external factors? No, obviously not. That’s why we need the standards to be set by us and we should not blindly follow others. Everybody has different aspirations. We should never be dragged by other people nor be stopped by them. Our own limits should be challenged. It should always set higher levels and should never drive a person to set lower levels. If you have to draw a longer line don’t try to make other line shorter because in that case you will lose sight of your length.

Competition should be interpreted as something more than winning or losing. Since all can’t win, all can’t be at the peak and someone has to lose there is need to not to lose our confidence or nurture negative feelings. All one is required to do is to strive harder to reach the higher bench mark.

But as said that excess of everything is bad so excess of competition is also bad. We need to take out time to smell roses. We should live and lead our lives and never be dragged by anything like competition. It is for the betterment and not for the devastation or destruction at any level.

Competition drives society sometimes forward and sometimes backward. It is solely our resonsibility that how we put this emotional gift to our progress.