1. Answer: Competitiveness drives you to want
to play harder, to give your all, to be the
best you can, and to win. This is part of
playing sports and is not a negative trait. In
fact, God uses competitiveness to help us make
progress in life in general. However, channeling this
aggressiveness in the wrong way can lead to frustration, getting bugged,
and losing your cool. The secret to good sporting behavior lies in how
you direct your competitive urges: whether outward or inward.
Competitiveness
During Sports
Question: I often get pretty bugged during sports,
both at my teammates and my opponents. And
it doesn’t matter whether my team is winning or
losing; I still get easily bugged. How can I keep
this under control, and/or combat it once I'm
miffed at someone or something that happened?
When you channel this competitiveness outward, it’s directed toward
the people you’re playing with or against, or the events of the game.

2. Having your heart
racing and your
blood boiling are part
of any competitive
sport; but if channeled
outward, these byproducts
of competition will only make
you angry and frustrated.
Rather, if you can channel these
feelings inward—to heightened
levels of determination, bouncing
back when you fail, learning
from your mistakes, and letting
the game push you toward
professionalism in the sport,
as well as in your actions
and interactions—you’ll
be converting that
competitive drive
into positive
energy.
Whimper!
Whimper!
All right,
competitive urges,
I’d like you to drive
me to heightened levels
of determination and
increased focus.
…Oh, and can we swing by
the market on the
way home?

3. If you have a passion for the game, the rush derived from competitive sports is
unavoidable. Optimize its value to fuel you positively. Professional athletes also
understand this fact and have to learn to channel their aggressiveness in this way. If
they don’t deal with the competition properly, they get benched, fined, or suspended.
Originally published 2009; updated. Illustrations by Leo Cavalleri. Design by Stefan Merour.
Copyright © 2011 by The Family International
Take some time to think about the byproducts of competition (and the good ways to
channel them), proper behavior in sports, and consequences for misconduct (such as
teammates not being too thrilled to have you on the team), and aim to increase your
professionalism in sportsmanship, as well as your fun. By honing this skill, you’ll be able
to enjoy the exciting, thrilling experiences that are a part of competitive sports.
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