Merriam’s Webster Dictionary defines competition as:
competition
noun | com·pe·ti·tion | \ˌkäm-pə-ˈti-shən\
: the act or process of trying to get or win something (such as a prize or a higher level of success) that someone else is also trying to get or win : the act or process of competing
: actions that are done by people, companies, etc., that are competing against each other
the competition : a person or group that you are trying to succeed against : a person or group that you are competing with
Full Definition of COMPETITION
1 : the act or process of competing : rivalry: as
a : the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms
b : active demand by two or more organisms or kinds of organisms for some environmental resource in short supply
2 : a contest between rivals; also : one’s competitors <faced tough competition>
What does the word COMPETITION mean to you?
I think it’s time we revisit that definition, redefine it and make it our own.
Let this be our own version of Urban Dictionary, a place where we can put a more positive spin on a word that can sometimes carry a negative connotation.
3 thoughts on “Dani’s Dictionary”
For me competition draws from within me that which reveals a great many things about me. It’s like dropping a bucket down a well to extract the water within. When I pull up the bucket the water is clean or dirty, sweet or brackish or any number of combinations. The one thing it can never be is empty. The only way for the bucket to be empty is for it to remain on the ledge. One cannot drink the water within by leaving the bucket on the ledge. One can always think the water good or bad, as the case may be. But one never truly knows anything about the water without dropping the bucket in and drawing it out again. Competition’s result can be many things, but competition itself has never been anything but dropping the bucket into the well to sample the water within.
Hey Dani… Great questions!… I pondered a bit before coming up with my thought. So, I guess I would define competition as engaging with one or more people in the pursuit of a rank, title, prize, etc… What competition means to me is too complex to get it all down succinctly… So I will paraphrase… Everyone compares themselves to others in someway to give clarity to where they fit in to the scheme of things. Competition comes out of the comparisons. Most compete with others as a gauge to their value, self-worth, status, success, power… I compete with myself alone and celebrate other’s successes. One of my favorite sayings is: Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else. For each one should carry their own load…. Gal 6:4
In my life, competition is an aspirational endeavor with oneself, another being, or with a force of nature which results in a lesson (acknowledged or not) regardless the outcome of the endeavor.