Last night I went out to dinner with two friends to a local restaurant. In addition to enjoying a good meal, we wanted to participate in the team trivia competition. Something I realized about myself a long time ago is that I'm a good sport, a gracious loser, and I really, really want to win.
I take games seriously, whether it was the team trivia last night, or a board game with friends and family like Pictionary or Cranium or Tabu. My favorite board game is definitely Scrabble. There's an app for that and I downloaded it to my iPhone. Even though I'm competing against a computer, I'm still really pleased when I win. Computers don't play defensive Scrabble. It isn't enough to get a Triple Word score for yourself, you know. It's important to block your opponent from getting it instead.
Sadly, nobody in my family will play Scrabble with me any more. I don't know why. It's not like I do an end zone dance and get all in their faces when I clear my rack on a triple word!
I'm semi-addicted to Bejeweled on Facebook. So is my boss. Good thing she and I have an excellent relationship because trash-talk ensues. I had a higher top score than she did last week. The scoreboard reset yesterday and she's already over 393, thousand points! I definitely have my work cut out for me to top that score this week.
So what's behind the competitive nature? Is it personal drive/motivation or rampant ego? Do I care if anyone knows that I won, or is it enough that I know?
Do I need everybody else around me to acknowledge that I beat them, that I am, at that moment apparently, a superior human being? (Inside joke for Pastafarians. :-) )
Things to ponder. Is the need to win tied into the need to survive? Is it an instinctive drive, whether the challenge is mental or physical?
Like I said. Things to ponder. What do you think?
P.S.
Our team rocked. We won!
This is a Good Book Thursday, April 18, 2024
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Last week was six kinds of awful, so I decided to put my mind on something
completely different, a very old book I’ve been working on for a very long
time ...
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4 comments:
I smiled as I read this. I can so seeing you You ask some interesting questions, M, and I don't really have any answers. Does make on ponder though.
I'm not, nor have I ever been, competetive. I've never been sure if that's good or bad. Are those who lack that 'drive' less inclined to get ahead in certain aspects of life? Hmm. Great topic and congrats on the win!
Beth, that's another great question, wondering if people without the drive are less likely to get ahead.
I don't think so. I think the competitive drive is just one possible aspect of the road to success.
This also brings up another idea that I might need to pursue tomorrow. That's the whole integrity thing. There's a big difference between being competitive, liking to win and doing it with good sportsmanship and integrity -- and being out to win at all costs, with no scruples.
Hmmmm.
I'm hyper competitive. In my case, I'm pretty sure that it's genetic. ;)
Having played Spoons against your father and seen blood drawn, I'd agree. :-)
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