The Winner Takes It All

I don't really like games that require me to top someone else...mostly because I can't do it.  I certainly can't do it when it comes to the games that people value.  I don't shoot pool well.  I don't throw or catch balls well. I can't toss beanbags in little holes, and I can't limbo lower than anyone else. The intermissions at staff development are my personal nightmare - here, do all the stuff that makes you insecure. I was the kid picked last for kickball, and I was the kid who struck out when there weren't supposed to be strike outs in baseball.

Is this a flaw in my character, a failure to rise to the level of expectation, an unwillingness to push myself?  I don't think so. I do admit that I gave up at physical activities when I didn't show any aptitude, but I diverted my efforts to music and academics, and I've never regretted that.  Athletically, I became a runner because running is as much about competing against your own best time as it is about beating someone else.  Running is also about celebrating everyone's achievements, a notion that speaks to me far more than gloating over a win ever did. (But then again, I never got to gloat.)

As a teacher, I'm not in favor of pushing kids to push someone else down.  The "winner takes it all" mentality seems counter-productive to me - in school, in sports, in life.  If all that matters is winning, we have to be gratified by seeing someone else lose, and that's a mindset that creates a divide that can't be bridged.

I know - competition is at the heart of our society.  We believe in meritocracy.  We believe that competition leads to higher productivity and innovation.  I won't belittle those theories. But at some point, I think we cross a line from competing for the sake of being better to competing for the sake of winning.  Winning just to win.  Winning at all costs.

In my classroom, I hope to convince kids that we all win when we help each other excel.  In my home, I want my children to believe that they can win by lifting others up.  In my own life, winning for myself is never so sweet as when I get to be part of a successful community.  I am glad to be a member of a faculty that celebrates the achievements of others.  I push myself harder because the people around me push so hard. I don't need to win.  I only need to value the chance to be surrounded by so much success.