As the title suggests, these are my thoughts about writing a blog. I have been wanting to start writing one for a long time, especially after I realized that sometimes I write thoughts that deeply resonate with me, and would probably also resonate with other people.

However, unfortunately, I have been putting off writing for a long time, owing to a treacherous enemy, which I initially thought of as my biggest ally. It’s the ages-old spirit of competition, which has haunted humankind since almost forever. This spirit does not age well like wine. It can make even biking on your way from work to home an ugly competition, with unhappiness rushing into your veins, as random strangers, living completely different lives and with different personal struggles, overtake you on an overlapping route.

I don’t mean to regard competition as a mean spirit that should be banished to a distant land. It’s absence can create new problems that we do not need. My problem has rather been to let competition steer my approach of doing anything in my life.

To explain the problem better, lets take an example from my life. I love singing. I enjoy being able to sing since I was a child, and sometimes also get appreciation for it. The problem starts when I start comparing my singing to others. Now it is not so fun anymore. Instead of enjoying singing with like-minded enthusiasts, I strive to be better to take the lead position, if it exists. As a student some years ago in classrooms, one of my aims was to ask a good question, possibly the best one in the room, in order to impress the lecturer/ teacher. While its completely fine to work on improving your skills and asking questions, the problem is the motivation of these actions. The motivation, in my case now, is to be the “best” – an adjective that is so subjective that it can have millions of answers, depending on the question and the situation. It’s a highly coveted, but elusive title. The need to win this title has drained the live out of activities I once enjoyed, making them stressful events in my calendar that I absolutely need to give my best at. It has started affecting me so badly over the years, that it now interferes with my natural flair for things, my passion and my creativity.

While competition is good for us, as it promotes us to work harder to advance to higher levels in life, we need to remember that it should never be the main driver of motivation in our life. It’s not worth it, to be the “best” at something, as it’s a fleeting moment in time, for which you sacrificed significant amounts of yourself. A healthier alternative as an adjective that reminds us to continue striving in life, is to be “better”. You can always strive to be a better version of yourself.

While I might not be able to write the best or perfect blogs, I hope I enjoy writing them, and you as the reader, also enjoy reading them!

P.S.: I am the kind of person that likes listening to music while working. I think music is one of the biggest gifts to us, and often the kind of music I listen to, influences my state of mind. This piece of writing was drafted while listening to the beautiful and rich melodies of the timeless classic  called  “Spirited Away”. It’s a film that I would probably share my thoughts on at a future point in time, and would recommend you to watch it in the meantime, if you haven’t done so yet!