I have a huge character flaw. I know it's hard to believe, but I do. Now if you ask Rick I'm sure he will be more than happy to list all of my faults. For this post, we will just concentrate on just one. So here it is....I am competitive to a fault, and, therefore, a sore loser! Unfortunately, I've been this way for as long as I can remember. I like to blame it on the fact that I have 6 brothers. Boys are naturally competitive, right? That may be, but that's not really the reason here. I'm the second oldest and was the leader of the pack, not the little sister trying to do what my brothers were doing. I have no one to blame for my competitiveness but myself.
Want proof? Let's take my Wii for example. I love to play what I call 'basement tennis'. I have plenty of room to move around down there. It always starts out a nice easy game, but then my competitive spirit starts to take over. I literally move around the entire room. I have this special behind the back move that I use to the my opponents right side! And serving...oh my gosh! I attack it like I can actually serve up an ace every time. By the end of the game I have sweat rolling down my back. Honest to goodness, you would think I was playing the 3rd set tiebreaker against Serena Williams in the French Open the way I act. More than once, I have had to put ice on my right shoulder when I was done!!! And you know the little conversation boxes with all of the !?!?!?!?!?!?! that appear on the screen when you lose a point? Well, I can guarantee you that I am actually saying out loud what my Mii is thinking!
My competitiveness knows no boundaries. I am the same way when I play board games and cards as well. At our high school the SADD club sponsors a couple of community game nights a year. They provide all kinds of games, snacks, drinks, and pizza and they invite the students to come in and play games for an evening. I never miss one because I love to play games! While attending one night, I was introduced to Catch Phrase. I fell in love with it. We had a group of 6 players. I had the vice principal and a future National Honor Society (HNS) member on my team. We were playing against the vice principal's wife and two current National Honor Society members. As with anything I compete in, it starts out nice and ends with me getting out of control. It was a close game and I started running my mouth. I actually told my future NHS student if he we lost I was going to throw out his membership application! Don't judge....I so know it was wrong. Luckily every one knew I was kidding. We ended up losing the game, but he still got into NHS. To this day we laugh about it.
As with any thing, there are few situations where my desire to win is a plus. I have been the district Operation Feed coordinator for the last 5 years. The Licking County Food Pantry sponsors a 'friendly' competition between the school districts. I preface friendly because we all know now that I see it as a way to win! At stake is traveling trophies and bragging rights. Well, for the last 5 years the high school has won! The elementary has won for the last 3 years and the middle school for last 2 years. Imagine my pride as this huge accomplishment. I love seeing those trophies sitting in the respective buildings for a year. Now I'm not so jaded by desire to win that I don't see the big picture here. The ultimate winner is the food pantry. In these economic times, more and more families are using the local food banks. It is satisfying to know that my competitiveness helps motivate the Licking Valley community to do such good work for such a worthy cause.
I acknowledge that I have a huge character flaw when it comes to winning. I truly do try to curb my competitiveness, but it's not always possible. When I reflect over the last 49 years, I see the only difference between my youth and adulthood is that I now know all of the curse words and how to use them properly! Like I said, don't judge!
Make Every Day Count...
Denise
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