The Perspective

“Participation is more important than winning”.

I am sure you must have heard this line a zillion times over. Whenever someone would say this, I would think “yeah, as if you don’t know how frustrating it is to lose”. I mean, it is really easy for people to say things like that, even though they must have experienced the disappointment of losing themselves, time and again in their lives.

But over the years, what I have observed around me has led me to believe that there is indeed some truth in that saying. Participation is a great deal more important than winning. And in this article, I will be sharing my opinion on the importance of participation in our lives.

Decoding Participation

Participation essentially has its identity linked to competition. We live in a world where only the fittest can survive. This is a harsh reality, but we humans have been able to bend it to our will to some extent. While we do not need to fight to death just to get some food into our belly, competition is inherent in our nature. Sports, arts, elections, exams and arguments are just ways for us to express our competitive sides. But as the rule of the competition goes, not everyone can be the winner. In a contest, some will win and others have to lose. 

So why compete in the first place? I could spend that time and effort watching an exciting movie on my comfy couch, right? That would be a great deal more fun than losing to some condescending mishap of a person, who just probably got lucky. 

Well, the fact is that the spirit of competition has been ingrained into our system since times immemorial. It is an important part of our being. Competition has certain effects and benefits on us, which we would miss out by not participating. I have explained these in the following sections.   

The ‘Personal Development’ Perspective

Everytime a competition takes place, it requires an activity to be performed with respect to a certain theme, like a patriotic song competition, or the district level football tournament. The whole idea is to make you perform the activity you are familiar with in a different manner. This gives you a new experience, a different perspective of that activity. And if you happen to be trying the activity out for the first time, all the better. 

This helps you to be dynamic as a person, as you get varied exposure on the same subject. You can explore different streams, identify your strengths and weaknesses and discover your interest areas. So in other words, we can say that by participation in various competitions, you get to discover yourself. 

Not just that, you also get an opportunity to gauge your performance and evaluate your level of mastery over a particular skill. It means that by repeatedly competing in various events of the same type, you can analyse your growth and improvement. 

A competitive arena is full of unprecedented challenges. We cannot entirely foresee or predict what might happen. This requires us to think in new ways, develop new strategies and try out different approaches to remain competitive and maintain our edge in the game. Hence, as a corollary to the point of undergoing new experiences, competitive scenarios also help us to think differently. 

The ‘Simply Fun’ Perspective

We wouldn’t be doing that under normal circumstances because there is no pressure, no incentive on us to adopt new styles of thinking. The general laid-back attitude is challenged when we participate in contests. This also leads to a certain level of thrill and excitement that participation ignites in our minds. This excitement of not knowing whether we will win or lose, the anticipation of the outcome and pitting one’s strengths against others is the spirit of competition. This can be fun if you truly enjoy what you do. 

This thrill also helps to break the monotony from our lives. Having the same “nine-2-five” routine can tire anyone out. Going out of the way to engage in some different activities gives us an opportunity to relax, loosen up and have some fun. What’s more? Most competitions are team-based, which means you can form groups with your friends and have a good time. 

And let us not forget the part which is the centre of everyone’s focus… winning. Participation is the only way through which you unlock that door to victory. True, you may not win 5 times, 10 times, 50 times or even a 100 times. But that 101th time when you win, the joy will be multiplied by that number. 

Conclusion

So you see… I laid out a whole article on what meaningful change you can bring in your lives by participating in contests and I only talked of winning at the end. 

And that is the sheer beauty of competition… Everyone wins at least at some point, or in some way. Now victory can be subjective… you may consider spending a good time with your friends as your victory, or outsmarting your opponent at least in strategy, or shining in your own little way… By participating, everyone gets to win in their own way. And that, my friends, is why I support, insist, and reinforce that participation is more important than winning.

By

Pranav Garg