[Carmen]

Hmm, food for thought. Olympic competition is more about equals competing against each other. Ugliness sure is evident in this also. Drugs, cheating are quite common.

Slavery is the ultimate competition where the bully takes all! A slave should always strive to be 'free'. To compete against a slave master would be nonsense. Freedom should be the slave's objective, not competitiion. The same applies to a dictatorship.

Elections, weelll!!! They sure bring out competitive **** and abuse and lies. Don't get me started on that one!

Thanks for your post though ortho, it has caused me to define what I mean by 'competition' It is a mind set of 'beating' someone at something and feeling as though you are king of the heap.

It is definitely natural to be competitive in this 3D world and I myself have had an extremely competitive nature. What I think is that competitiveness defines this realm, but is not useful, desirable or progressive in the higher realms.

I have studied/observed myself in various aspects of competition because this applies personally as well as in family and community.

For instance, I always sucked at tennis playing cos I was always trying to 'beat' my opponent. When I stopped that, and just competed with myself and my attitude, the tennis improved considerably.

These might seem like silly insigficant examples, but they are my examples into this subject.

Another instance of the difference to me between competitivenes and co-operation was in stage productions that I have performed in and directed. In our little country town everyone who comes along is "good enough'. They dont compete to get to take part. When I directed I also applied what I knew about competitiveness and human nature. I said to the members "I am directing this production. Ive never done it before. I want it to be excellent. If you have any critisizm or ideas, bring them to me. If they are valid or workable we will incorporate them into our show." This worked a treat. Everyone had import that were creative. Everyone felt validated and we had a great show. I knew that I didn't have all the knowledge, but together we could create something fabulous and we did.

I also have taken part in a major opera production in the city. I was fascinated to observe the difference between big city/small town approaches. It was all about competition. The members were more jealous of each other because we had had to compete to take part. People were not as friendly and open because of the competiive nature. It was great to be part of a professional show, but it sure lacked the pure fun of our country shows

Do you see what I am getting at here? Just because something is natural and normal and familiar. Does that make it necessarily progressive or right?

Love and Light

Carmen