Greetings, fellow humans! I’m tackling the sixth article of The Optimist Creed. The creed is as follows…
Promise yourself…
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Most of the time, I’m genuinely happy for others’ success; but there are some instances when I want the success, too. I’m competitive.
For example, there’s this girl who graduated with me from high school. We go to separate colleges now, but we’re pretty much studying the same thing. We’ll call her Nia 2.0
I’m majoring in English: Professional Writing. According to what I’ve heard, Nia 2.0 is a double major – English and Professional Writing. So, while I’m getting one degree, she’s working on two.
I had a meeting with an author, and she told me I should start writing my book. Nia 2.0 already published her first book a few months ago.
I got a journalist position at my college’s newspaper. Nia 2.0 becomes the copy editor of hers.
I get a 3.89 GPA my first semester in college. Nia 2.0 gets a 4.0.
It’s frustrating.
Sure, I’m most definitely happy for her and proud of her; but sometimes I feel inferior. Second best. Second place. I was always told that second place is the first loser.
I don’t necessarily want to outdo her, but I can’t help but compare myself to her.
I guess the way to be just as happy for someone’s success is to look at him/her as your teammate, rather than your competition.
It’s kind of like the sport of cross country running.
Cross country is a team sport and an individual sport all at the same time. When you’re out there, you’re running your own race. So, you’re running as an individual, not executing a play on the court, field, etc.
However, your individual races affects your team’s standings. Do you get it? The work you’re putting in isn’t only for yourself. It’s for a group of individuals.
During my years on the varsity cross country team, I had a friend and teammate named Miah. She was bloody amazing. Out of our team members, she would finish first, and she qualified for the State Meets every year. Was I less than happy for her? NO! I was thrilled! Why? Her success helped the team’s success.
Whenever Miah crossed the finish line, ran at States, or accepted a medal, she had on our team’s uniform. She represented herself and our team.
Whenever Nia 2.0 is doing awesome things, she’s representing my high school. She’s representing my class. She’s representing English majors. She’s representing me.
So you should be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own because it’s all about teamwork; and teamwork makes the dream work.
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