QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"There is nothing noble about being superior to some other
person. The true nobility lies in being superior to your
previous self."
--Hindu proverb
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
We live in a very competitive world--not that this is anything new. Competition has always been at the forefront of many lives. Players have built the sports world on competition. In business, competition is fierce. Students compete for grades. Even the little things in our everyday lives center around competition. We must be the first in line. We must be ahead of that other driver. We must make more money than him or her. Superiority! What does this all get us? Do these things we think of as important, really make us a better person? Our worth, our goodness, our self-esteem does not come from "winning" some external competition. It does not come from awards. It does not come from someone telling us how great we are. These wins are fleeting. Instead it comes from within. Our personal best, that is the real competitiveness.
When we can look within ourselves and see even a little improvement and when we overcome the challenges of life and are victorious, then we can truly say that we competed in the noblest way possible. We competed with ourselves and grew greater because of it. Great victories do not come out of beating down another but instead come from a personal triumph. Sometimes--the greatest of times--they come in spite of seemingly impossible odds. That is what inspires others. That is what lasts in the hearts and minds of people.
Blessings and Love,
Allen Schmeltz
Copyright © 1999 Allen F. Schmeltz. All rights reserved.
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