Competition at its Finest (?)

I think most people have a competitive nature. When many think of competition, they think of athletics or academics. But the kind of competition I'm talking about is much more mundane.

I noticed this initially when my apartment complex announced they were hosting a chili cook-off. Considering myself a slightly above average cook, I decided to enter. Sweetening the pot (so to speak) is that the winner receives a $100 gift card and a certificate of greatness. So, a hundred dollar gift card is pretty sweet. But, overall there is a lot of work that goes into creating an original recipe and making it in a large quantity. Furthermore, why do I need a certificate of greatness from my apartment?

Another case in point was at a recent silent auction I attended as a part of a church fundraiser. Donated items were surrounding bidders in a large dining room. Each item had its own clipboard with a value and suggested bid, with blanks for charitable bidders to place their bid. As I went around the room placing generous $5 bids on selected gift cards and the like, a hint of adrenaline hit me. I wanted to win something and I wanted to get a "deal" on it. I even wanted to get in Bidder Number 33's face and tell them they were going down in the betting for the gift card I wanted. What is wrong with this picture? Adrenaline at a church fundraiser? It seems a bit inappropriate, I agree.

These are just the two most recent examples in my life, and I'm sure some come to mind as you are reading this.

But I think everyone is like this. We all get competitive when sitting at a stoplight next to another car, seeing another person's exam grade, or seeing how fast someone else is running next to us. Maybe this is okay in certain situations. But perhaps we should take a moment to analyze whether we are getting too aggressive over silly situations. The chili cook-off is meant to be entertaining and the church fundraiser is obviously a charity event. So instead of inserting undue competitiveness into these sorts of things, just maybe we could appreciate the mundane tasks in life instead of making them into a fierce competition.