Something I've noticed is how we girls seem to spend our lives playing a constant numbers game. The number of zeros on our paycheck to the number of zeros on the size tag of that dress we are slimming to fit into. Spending countless hours number crunching calories and meticulously calculating grams of fat in a single square of chocolate.
Competition is natural to human beings and animals alike. If you can't stand the heat - get out the kitchen! In a world where only the strongest survive it is essential to be the best you can be; the smartest, the thinnest, the highest paid, the most popular. Throughout our lives we are bombarded with images showing the most beautiful people in the world, the richest and the most successful. People fall in and out of favour at the drop of a hat, just look at Britney Spears. From America's sweetheart to trailer trash mom not allowed to see her kids. Where did it all go wrong? Maybe the competition was too much, the game moving too fast to keep up with. With every dawning day there seems to be a new "next big thing", a hot new Hollywood socialite or a trend that flashes in and out of fashion so quick if you don't jump on the bandwagon lickety-split you might miss it completely.
So who are we in competition with? Well, mainly with ourselves. Whatever we do we always want to do it better, self-improvement is the name of the game. Just look at the number of people who undergo cosmetic surgery and spend thousands on clothes, make-up and beauty products every year.
But is this really such a bad thing? Yes, the media has been blamed for encouraging anorexia and bad body image, but thats not really the issue im discussing here. However on the same note how many people in the world today are obese? And how many children these days are not interested in doing well through blood, sweat and tears, but instead want it all handed to them on a plate? If the natural competition gene is slowly dying out then maybe its not so terrible if looking at others encourages them to try their very best to be the best they can be.
