Competition is healthy. It keeps us on our toes. We need competition to see where "we" are. "Am I first, second, last?" Where am I? . . .

Well, actually, why should we care?

Yes, that's right. Why should we care?

What we should be caring about is not where we are according to everyone else, but where we are in "our" life. Where we are according to where "we" want to be.

When we "compete", we take our mind off our goals and on to what?

Beating someone at something. That's what.

If you look at "beating someone at something", you'll see a negative. In other words, a you/me -- not us. What you don't see is a "Peace to all, harm to no one" situation.

People who "compete" in the regular way, alternately experience greed, stress, pain, anguish, hatred, and many other negative emotions. If they win, they most times feel superior, a "I am better than you" feeling that, regardless of how hard they try to squash it, transmits to others.

But guess what? If they compete against themselves, then there is no one else in the equation. They aren't better or worse than anyone else, they are just better or worse than they were.

Get past the teenage years where that type of competing is the predominant goal and look at where you are today.

If you look closely, you'll see that you probably got where you are today with a little help from others. Others who weren't selfishly looking at "What's in it for me?".

When you get beyond the "What's in it for me?" syndrome, you suddenly find yourself in the "Peace to all, harm to no one" syndrome. Which feels better? Which one do you want to cultivate now?

Instead of going through all that anguish, wouldn't you rather do your best and move on?

Life is all about competition. But whom do you wish to compete with?

Why not just compete with yourself? It's still a competition, but you are bettering yourself for all the right reasons now.

Here are some excellent questions to help you with that competition.

Are you a better person today than you were yesterday? Can you perform your work better today than yesterday? Do you love your God and your family more today than yesterday? Are you making the world a better place today more than you did yesterday? Have you told someone you love them more this week than last week?

If you can answer yes to questions like these, you have soundly defeated "competition" in a way that enriches your life in all areas. And doesn't that feel great?