Losing

Today's Thought is one of those jewels associated with the whimsical philosophy of fishing. I suppose I'm biased, being an avid fisherman myself, but I kind of like these Thoughts. Today's is especially relevant, considering the latest adventures in my student teaching experience.

Lately there seems to be a rash of unnecessary comparisons going on in my class, mostly centered around grades. My message in response: Don't compare to someone else, compete with yourself. In school, there really is no way to lose (if you're doing it right). Either you 'catch' a good grade, or you 'learn' what do to differently next time. In reality, you can only lose by focusing on these comparisons.

Are you losing? If so, let go of those comparisons. Really, the only person you are competing with is yourself. If you are constantly learning and improving, there is no way to lose. You either 'catch' or you 'learn'. Are you losing or are you winning?

Compete

It's been a while since I got anything from Calvin and Hobbes, so today's Thought is a welcome addition. When I was a young child, I took piano lessons. Not only did I take lessons, but I competed. There were two contests that I took part in. One was again all the other players entered - I had to play better than them in order to win. The other contest I entered was against myself. All I had to do was play better than I did the year before. In the end, my performance was compared to two entities - myself and everyone else.

Think back to a time when you competed with someone else. For many, I know the spirit of competition, the drive to be better than someone else, is very powerful. And there's nothing wrong with that. However, it is important to remember that the only person we really have to compete against is ourselves. Rather than beat out every other piano player, our mission should be to beat our previous years performance. Who do you compete with? Yourself? Or everyone else?