I recently ran my first marathon. It was a cold, February morning, and according to my peers (and here I take paraphrastic liberties for dramatic effect) I was a deranged masochist. But you may all rest assured that I did not enjoy the cold nor did I enjoy the pain.
I did, however, learn a lesson.
In addition to a marathon, this event also featured a half-marathon and a 10k. For the marathoners, the course consisted of two 13.1 mile loops. The half-marathoners would finish after one lap, and the 10k-ers would break off after roughly six miles. Regardless, we all started together.
When the gun went off, so did my competitive spirit. Oblivious to the fact that those around me were mostly running the 10k or the half-marathon, I went with the pack, which was going at a much faster clip than I could hold for a full marathon. When I reached the halfway point (and apparently regained the capacity for rational thought), I thought to myself, "Whoops."
13.1 miles and a foot injury later, I finished, but barely.
Well, great. I just told my marathon story. But what is this talk of a "lesson"? As I plopped down in a conveniently-provided chair at the finish of the race, unable to move, I realized two things:
1. A marathon hurts a LOT more the second half than the first.
2. The discomfort could have been significantly reduced had I gone at my own pace.
And here I realized an aspect of my life that I needed to work on changing. The competitive spirit may be a good thing, but too often I feel that I am hindered by it. It fosters motivation, innovation, and productivity. However, as I learned, it can also breed irrational behavior, unnecessary stress, and exhaustion in this race that is life. Here the question becomes age-old: what is life really about?
I suppose in the end we all want to do great things, and that takes motivation, innovation, and productivity. But also I know that I don't want to be irrational, stressed, and exhausted my entire life while I am busy being motivated, innovative, and productive. I guess the key, as with all things, is balance. Yin and Yang. Splitting the competitive spirit into its yolk and its whites and using them properly in the mix. Easier said than done, of course.
However, one thing I can say for certain is that life is a race. If one goes at his own pace from the beginning rather than basing his pace off of others who are running their own races, he will most definitely finish strong.
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I've always found that when competition is the greatest propellant towards success, the results are improved versions of a previously existing product. That's probably a bit unclear, so I think I'll explain.
ReplyDeleteIn modern medicine, the greatest motivation for creating new drugs is money (in a capitalist society). This means they are in competition with other companies to sell more goods, usually by creating more effective drugs at lower costs than other companies. That also means they stand to make more money by improving current drugs then working on new ones. That's why you see 500 drugs to cure ED, but we haven't cured muscular dystrophy.
In the same way, all the saxophonists out there treating music as a "competition" are the ones copping Brecker licks and trying to do it "better" than the guys before them. It's certainly impressive, but it also breeds more of the same style of music and improvising.
But then think of a musician like Wayne Shorter. Obviously, competition is not his main motivation. Who knows what it is, but it sent him in an entirely new direction.
Of course, everyone stands to gain from taking part in the competition, at least a bit. Learn about the medicines on the market, and maybe you gain understanding to do something new. Get your technique and vocabulary together, and then put that towards something original.
So yeah... The in between thing I guess. haha.
Exactly. Its the old ars gratia artis vs. public opinion/financial success/being a ladies' man dilemma. I definitely agree that there is a lot to be taken from the competition. I mean, I'm an incredibly competitive person. But I've often asked myself if I'm truly happy when I'm trying constantly to get ahead. (Answer:no) It really makes me infinitely happier when I come up with something original, in music or in anything that I may be doing, even if nobody will ever see what that original thing is. But as you said,"the in between thing." Definitely.
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