wushuzilla

This is from an e-mail I wrote to a friend related to their recent experiences with a wushu competition. Just thought it might be an interesting read for some of you …

… Competitions are an interesting thing. They reveal a lot about who we are as people — and often times our reactions to competing are not what we thought or hoped they might have been.  One’s experiences with competition is really a reflection of their inner thoughts and feelings about the true reason they are there.

If a person tells themselves they will go compete just for the fun of it, but they end up having a terrible time, then perhaps the true reason they went wasn’t just to enjoy themselves, but it was to prove something to themselves, or to score well.  You can only have a terrible time if it doesn’t match with your expectations, so we have to really figure out what our expectations on the experience was that caused that reaction.  Or, if we really enjoyed it, and when we went there we were assuming we would not have a good time, then perhaps the reason we enjoyed it is directly related to the expectation of having a bad time?

Anyway, I think I’m speaking more about myself than you in this regard.  I’ve always found that how I end up valuing a situation is a direct correlation to what expectations I went in to it with.  And that makes me realize that the only way to really be subjective about my experiences and see things for what they are is to not have any expectations and emotional attachment to a specific outcome from the beginning.  Because when I can do that (which takes practice, I have to admit) I actually end up seeing the merits and enjoyable aspects of the experience, and acknowledging the negative, less enjoyable aspects for what they are, without carrying any emotional baggage or resentments inside my heart.  Take the good and make it my own, and acknowledge the bad and leave it out of my heart — is basically what I’m saying.

Not sure if that applies to you at all, but what you wrote made me think of it.

But,as you said, you’ve grown from the experience, and to be honest, I think that is the real reason we should compete.  Because, in teaching ourselves about who we really are, it allows us the opportunity to take that new-found knowledge and apply it to our lives and come out on the other side a better person.

Or something like that …

- Mark

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