Sunday, 16 September 2012

A competitive soul

I come from the natural breed of being competitive and wanting to do well at anything, whether that is a group scenario, my football team doing well or even on a computer game.

However, I know that not winning might hurt but it isn’t the end of the world.  It is important to show that if you aren’t successful, you don’t act like your life is over.

I can use many of my own prime examples to show that life is more than just a game where there is a winner and a loser.

In computer games, I do get annoyed if I get taken out of a Grand Prix by some loony at Silverstone (like I was today!)

However, rather than throw a hissy fit, I curse my disappointment and a bit of anger at what happened for around a minute before trying to analyse, could I have done something different to avoid the contact?

Media day competition
The BTCC day last October ended in disappointment but also dignified
Last October, my course at University went on a media day to the final round of the British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone.

The main challenge of the day was to come up with a preview to the weekend’s event in groups of four or five (in my case) and the winner would get the article published on the official Silverstone website.

The task was hard and I really wanted to win, especially as it could have meant returning 48 hours later to watch the live action from the championship decider.

So when the winners were revealed, I was disappointed and not surprised.  My face throughout the day was one of frustration as things weren’t going according to plan for a variety of reasons.

However, the right team won the prize and deserved the rewards.  It had been an interesting challenge which ended in disappointment but gratitude.

Afterwards, one of the winners offered the race tickets to me but I declined the offer.  It was a lovely gesture but one I couldn’t accept as I wanted to accept defeat in a proper and dignified manner.

I felt if I had taken the prize, I would have not only cheated my team but feel guilt as I didn’t deserve it.

Our national game
Meanwhile in our national game, all of us who follow a football team are convinced that they can do absolutely nothing wrong.

As a Liverpool fan, I have many rivals including Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton and I’d put Arsenal and Manchester City into the mix too.

As a fan, you can’t do anything but hope that your team wins. 

When they win, it feels fantastic and there’s no harm with a bit of banter against the opposition, especially if you know a fan that follows the losing team.

However, keep things in perspective.  Football is just a game.  It is a very passionate game where we all want to end up with top honours but it is only a game and nobody should take it too personally.

I am a competitive soul and always have been.  However, one lesson I have learnt in life is to be dignified in victory and gracious in defeat.

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