There’s gotta be something inherently wrong with thinking you’re better than someone. That’s what they tell you, but then why do we hold competitions at all? We can still be friendly while trying to overpower each other. As long as everyone agrees to it, how could it be wrong? I think what I have a problem with isn’t when someone is more proficient or consistent, it’s when they challenge me to prove myself when they have not proved their own willpower.

You can be the best at something at people wouldn’t know it. Everytime you walk into a crowd of people, one of you is the tallest, shortest, dumbest, smartest, healthiest, sickest, oldest, youngest (are those words?) and that’s just a fact of the matter. That doesn’t mean the tallest always gets the girl or the cutest gets the guy. People are willing to change the rules of the game to be more inclusive, but if not then good luck.

See, this is why we each have standards. We know what we excel in and what holds us back. What we did yesterday may not cut it today. The novice needs to hone the fundamentals and an expert must stay practiced. To deny that is to refuse the identity that is awarded to you by others when you meet the requirements to a certain image. You might think you are beautiful, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You could keep looking at your reflection in the water, or you could watch the fish. One thing is for certain, is that the fish see you differently than you see you.

So how do we get better? Does it mean we must chase the shadow of another to take their thunder? That we must extinguish others’ flames to shine brighter? Do we even have to shine at all? No, no, and yes. If we were to judge ourself on a metric, let’s say artistic ability, and we were to draw a circle, that circle should look like a representation of our ability. If we were to judge ourselves on our ability to draw a perfect circle, it wouldn’t be much more different. The difference is like squares and rectangles, you may be able to draw a perfect circle, but you could be a poor caricature artist. The point is what are we going to define ourselves *with* rather than a real measure of who we are. Facts mean nothing without opinions, that’s why I hate it when people showboat without thw facts to prove it. Toxic masculinity or something, but anyways, who are you better than, and at what?