Are you active in any sports or other competition? Do you win more than you lose? Would you keep playing if you always lost? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, p.572).
Loving
parents strive to instill a winning attitude and spirit in their
children. It is inconceivable that a loving parent would wish to
instill the opposite – a losing attitude. That is almost the
definition of love – to make a loved one not only feel like but be
a winner. We want to build up the ones we love, not tear them down.
Lucky is the person who has been so raised in childhood that he
develops this spirit. It is highly important that one be so
constituted that they refuse to let themselves be defined by the
occasional failure or setback. Optimally, a failure or setback is
simply a stimulus to move forward. This stance relies on a deep
indelible belief that failure is not in any way characteristic of
me. From whence does this belief arise.
It
is completely possible for parents to raise their children in a
constructive way without also teaching that cutthroat competition is
necessary to establish a winning spirit. It would be lunacy for
parents to decide that constant and strident competition between
siblings would result in a positive, flourishing atmosphere. In fact
we come upon a striking conclusion – a winning spirit does not
depend upon competition at all, but upon being the undeserving
recipient of generosity and kindness. It is surely shortsighted and
wrong-headed for people so luckily raised to conclude that they alone
are responsible through wars of competition for developing a
triumphant winning spirit. In fact they owe their winning attitude to
the very opposite – an atmosphere of love and generosity in which
they were made to feel special just for who they are quite apart from
any concept of just deserts. The believe that competition is the
source of a winning attitude is ill-founded.
Competition
in biology, ecology and sociology is a contest between organisms,
animals, individuals, groups, etc. for territory, a niche, or a
location of resources, for resources and goods, for prestige,
recognition and awards, for mates and group or social status, for
leadership; it is the opposite of cooperation. It arises whenever at
least two parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared or which
is desired individually but not in sharing and cooperation.
Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist
in the same environment. For example, animals compete over water
supplies, food, mates, and other biological resources. Humans compete
usually for food and mates, though when these needs are met deep
rivalries often arise over the pursuit of wealth, prestige, and fame.
Competition is also a major tenet in market economy and business is
often associated with competition as most companies are in
competition with at least one other firm over the same group of
customers, and also competition inside a company is usually
stimulated for meeting and reaching higher quality of services or
products that the company produce or develop.
Cooperation
or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its
simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side,
while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as
complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social
patterns of a nation. It is the alternative to working separately in
competition. Cooperation can also be accomplished by computers, which
can handle shared resources simultaneously, while sharing processor
time.
Winner:
Champion, the victor in a challenge or contest.
Loser:
A person who fails to win.
[Definitions
from: Wikipedia]
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