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Why Competition Doesn’t Work, And The Harm It Does
The major goal of competition is prestige; the lesser goals are power and money.
Somewhere along the line I started hearing about how competition brings out the best in us. It separates the sheep from the goats, and it makes certain that those who have what it takes get to the top. I always hated competition. It wasn’t that I couldn’t win. There have been times where I have been so irritated by those who competed with me that I have stepped out of character.
I recall an ex friend of mine. I used to visit her quite frequently on a Sunday at the local flea market where she sold her goods. Lee (name changed) had taken to telling me how she could hook men far easier than I could. She seemed unaware that I gently discouraged men’s attention. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I didn’t want their attention.
At the market where she sold her goods, men would often come talk to me, and in that way that I developed, I shrugged them off politely, and they would turn to her. Perhaps, Lee had seen it in a different way — that men only spoke a few words to me before turning to her. Perhaps, she assumed that they had turned to her because I hadn’t been very interesting.
