Competition: pro's and con's

I love sports. Even more than that I love to win. I am playing on a slow pitch softball league this summer and every year I play with this team I end up hating my life by the season end. The people I play with are practically my family but some of them are so difficult. This is supposed to be a non-competitive slow pitch league, but some nights I feel like my team is playing in the world series. It's not that we are that good, it is merely the pressure. If a player makes a mistake guaranteed that someone else is going to say something and it's never words of encouragement. Don't get me wrong, I love to win but it is hard to find joy in the game that I love when I'm playing with these people. So what is the problem with this little story? I finally figured it out: it's competition.
Competition, when used in the proper setting, can be a wonderful thing but it can also cause many problems. So what are the pro's of competition? Competition helps to facilitate change and improvement. Through it teams are able to achieve those amazing sports movie moments and help build lasting friendships. I have participated on many teams and felt the exhileration and the defeat that competition can bring. I have also seen what it can do when it is only one sided. For a long time I had to win, and I didn't care who or what got in my way or what game I was playing. After some hard lessons learned my freshman year of college I began to look back at the trail of destruction I left behind me. I had hurt many people, most of whom were my friends. I was so consumed with my "goal" that I had no regard for other people.
As I play with different teams and with many different people I am finding that the people who have the most fun are the ones who are there to have FUN. I have tried to make it my goal to help those who may not be as good as me feel good. When people recieve positive feedback they are more likely to try what they are doing again and who doesn't like to make people feel good. Honestly. With that being said, it is not easy. I hate it when the game goes slow or when I know that I can do something better than someone else. It's hard to watch someone struggle through something or not do something basic that would help so much. Every time I have those thoughts I ask myself if the other person is having fun. More often than not they are, so who am I to spoil their fun. So for anyone who reads this I ask you to try and play something for fun and only for the fun, see what happens. I think that you will be surprised.

Blog, Blog, Blog...

Blogging is something that I have never understood. You may be asking yourself "why the heck are you blogging then?" Well the answer is a very simple one. It is now a quarter to four in the morning and I am wide awake. I have also decided that I shouldn't hate things that I haven't tried. There are,however, a few things that I have learned in the wee hours of the morning about blogging. The first is that I don't remember a thing about writing html code which I learned in about the sixth grade. The second is that a large percentage of blogging is associated with either broken hearted tweens or people who are overly obsessed with anime`.
Anyway, I have been thinking quite a bit lately about how technology has changed social interaction. If you don't want to have a discussion face to face, hey you don't have to. You can always text, im, blog, or update your status to let people know exactly how you are feeling. Who needs to learn how to read peoples actual feelings when you can just read it on their blog or facebook. I am as guilty as anyone, because all of these things are so darn addicting. We have all done it, and I am doing it at this very moment. You know, stay up till the crack of dawn Facebooking.
My mother used to always tell me, while wagging her finger at me of course, "don't judge a book by its cover." But can we honestly say this any more. Why bother reading the book when we can just read the synopsis on the front page. Have we really turned into a take me at text value society.
So instead of synopsis I am going to give you some snip its and chapter headings for my life.
1. I am only competetive with people that I have to beat
2. Very rarely am i serious, and when I am it is usually really early in the morning
3. I am inherently messy...and I hate it
4. I didn't cry for seven years
5. I work hard but I play even harder
6. I only got a 22 on my ACT and still got in to BYU, take that!
7. I own way more movies than any normal person should have
8. I am deathly afraid of deer
9. I know what it feels like to have a 500 lb. machine roll over top of you and it is awesome
10. I am really good with money, but I am also really good at spending it

Enjoy!