How competitive are you?

I have always considered myself as un-competitive.  I'm not sure that is very honest though.  Certainly I am un-competitive in anything that has to do with physical athleticism.  I won't even try in most cases because I know that I will surely come up lacking.  And that's fine.  No skin off my nose.  It has always frustrated Brian that I won't even try to wrestle him.  Yea, right.  Like I would have any chance?

But I don't think these are the only types of things that can bring out our competitive natures.  I think I am very competitive against myself.  I want to do better than I have done before.  I want to exceed my own standards; my own levels of performance.   And I think this is healthy.

Recently while my husband and I were on a trip to Utah and Idaho, in the middle of winter, I could not get my husband to put on the only light jacket he had brought along, at my insistence of course.  Granted he is a big guy that never seems to feel the cold.  But these were extreme temperatures we were experiencing; below zero kind of cold!

Finally I asked him why.  Certainly you are cold?  Certainly you must be feeling the effects of this awful place?

His response?  "I don't want to let the cold win."

My hyper-competitive husband is so stubborn he was challenging the cold to get to him, to break him somehow.  It was like some kind of triple-dog-dare against the elements.

You know what?  As crazy as I think that is, I also admire his spirit.  I think a person can go far in this life with a "Must Win" attitude.

So I ask you, and I ask myself:  What are we letting win?  Are our habits winning?  Our weaknesses?  Our addictions, perhaps?

Going into this new year, I plan to foster this competitive spirit.  I am determined to overcome things that may have whipped me in the past.  I am not going to "let the cold win"!