Competition And Happiness Rubin Analysis

Competition In Chapter 5 , “ Bling, Bombs, and the Bible”, in the book called Game On: How Pressure to Win at All Costs Endangers Youth Sports, author Tom Farrey claims that children can benefit from participation in sports even though the sports are not highly competitive. To support his argument Farrey uses the examples of Jack Welch, former CEO of GE as well as a description of how the historical background of youth sports evolved in the United States. I believe Farrey’s claim is invalid because competition is a significant part of adult life and therefore, children must learn to cope with highly competitive situations from an early age. Additionally, Farrey seems to focus on non-competitive sports that were prevalent in the past, however,

It is a well-known fact that competition drives most people to do better, to be better. Whether this is in sports, school, work or even a simple day to day task; the idea of possibly not being as good as the guy next to you drives the individual to push harder, to dig deep and be the best he or she can be. This is no different in A Separate Peace. In this essay we will look at the way competition affected Finny and Gene, the way Finny made new games to entertain his longing for competition, and Gene’s drive to be the best and smartest student at the school. Although they were focused on different aspects of life, competition was still very strong in their friendship; whether good or bad, it was there.

Gianni Versace once said, “It is nice to have valid competition; It pushes you to do better.” This quote says that society needs competition as it pushes society to work harder. Competition is necessary for everyday society. Lack of competition leads to no innovation and production in society as seen in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Harrison Bergeron.” This occurs when the dancers aren't trying, society has no need to try, finally, lack of new technology and

Jennifer Senior discusses her research concerning positive psychology and whether or not happiness is teachable and highlights some of the darker sides of happiness. To start the article, Senior reveals her score on her test from the Authentic Happiness Inventory. The test designed by Chris Peterson of the positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. This test is intended to numerically score ones level of happiness. In a scale of 1 to 5, Jennifer got a grade of 2.88. This indicated she was below average for most rankings such as “age, education level, gender and occupation” (422). Senior states she is at the 50 percent mark for her given zip code. She stated that liking her

Soccer led to days sitting in the park talking about our futures, bike rides to the beach, and nights of mischief. Around the same time I started playing and watching basketball. I remember watching Kobe Bryant play in the 2009 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics and thinking I want to try that move, hoist a trophy, have a crowd cheer for me. There has always been a sense of energy I got from playing in front of people which can be attributed to my competitiveness. Regardless, the only people that I cared about watching me were my parents. My father was always working and my mother also working among taking care of my younger sisters and I. That is until my championship game with the boys and girls club in 6th grade. I vividly remember my dad waving to me as we started the game and although we lost I was never happier. Basketball gave me a reason to smile. There were countless nights of trash talk and one on one games with people who were my rivals, rivals that are now my closest

In Hannah Pandels’s article, Healthy Competition is Good for Children, she makes the statement that it, competition, is a necessary and essential part of our society today. This article was written partly in response to numerous other articles stating the opposite but one was singled out. The American author Alfie Kohn. Now this fits into the childhood development debate that has been ongoing lately regarding the theory that today’s kids are more entitled to things and have less problem solving skills then previous generations. With that back ground she begins to vocalize her thoughts regarding the issue. Her thesis is clear, it is in the title for goodness sakes, that competition is a normal part of growing up and it is essential to the proper development of children. She states “competition breeds excellence” (Pandel) this simple statement engulfs the

Competition between peers makes people strive to try and be better than their opponents, and can be healthy or unhealthy depending on the competitors and their responses to the competition.

Alfie Kohn states that “competition by its very nature is always unhealthy” and has written an essay opposing the concept. There are various examples of competition in the world today, from sports that the world watches on television, to spelling bees children in elementary and middle school participate in. Competition is a part of our daily lives whether we’re aware of it or not; however, it does have its disadvantages that leads me to support Kohn’s opinion.

Competition is prevalent in various aspects of life, including sports, school, and jobs. Everyone at some point in their lifetime will have to compete against others in order to achieve a goal or earn a prize. It’s how the world has worked for a long time; it’s survival of the fittest and this minor competition between everyone is how we have continuously gotten smarter, faster, and stronger. Competition is necessary to a certain degree, but how much is too much? It’s definitely not a bad thing, and as long as there’s a healthy amount, it can be beneficial because it fosters self-improvement, and it will push people to go all out and try their absolute best.

Happiness is something that many have debated and argued on for years. From the way happiness can be found, to the quickness that it can be lost. Happiness though does not have to come from the things around us, it can come from within our very being. It can be found in the interactions we have with others. And even the smallest, most insignificant of experiences can bring someone a happiness that could mean the world to them. And although the sayings that many see and have been spread around typically have to do with finding inner peace or searching within yourself, it does not mean that there this is the only way to find peace from within. And above all else, I believe that happiness can be found even in the most unlikely of places. This is because of the fact that happiness, though generally talked about, does not have a uniformed meaning and is something completely different for each person.

It was the end of the 8th grade, and that love and passion I had all my life for the sport was gone. I didn't have that feeling when I touched a soccer ball and it all just seemed to fade away. During this time, of not playing soccer, I lost myself. I started doing poorly in school, found different friends, and really began to take a different path in life. I began to care more about fitting in and being cool, and I lost the sport that I loved the most.

After reading Children Need to Play, Not Compete by Jessica Statsky I thought she brought up some very valid points. I do think that this is a topic that should be scrutinized. I have a different view of the subject. I think that competition can be physically, and psychologically harmful if left unchecked by "abusive/uncaring" adults. I do think that with the right, caring and team work fostering environment competition can fostered without harmful effects, and can lead to learning lifelong skills that can bring emotional joy.

I had to play in a position I had never played before which was a fullback and our first couple games I had to learn how to play it. I never would’ve thought I would enjoy playing soccer as much as I do now. Before I played soccer I was never a big fan of it until I actually played it. Soccer has changed me in a positive way because it taught me a lot of important life lessons. I will never forget these life lessons that soccer has taught me. They have shaped me into the person I am today. Soccer has taught me sportsmanship, hard work, confidence, teamwork, dedication, and commitment. Being on the soccer team also has some negative things. Sometimes our team would not agree on something and would end up in an argument. It taught me how to work things out with my teammates and get along with them. Also being on the team means you have a chance at making new friends. Throughout my experience of being on the team, I had some struggles. Whenever I was on the field and missed a chance at making a goal, I would get upset after the game. So my family and friends would motivate me and tell me I could get more chances at getting better. One of my biggest supporters was my cousin. He was a soccer player for 4 years for Dunmore and he always supported

Within The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, he mentions that there are two ancient truths concerning how the mind works. The first truth is the foundational idea of the book: the mind is divided into parts that sometimes conflict with each other. The second truth is Shakespeare’s idea about how “thinking makes it so.” (or, as Buddha said, “Our life is the creation of our mind.”) Like a rider, on the back of an elephant, the conscious, reasoning part of the mind has only limited control of what the elephant does. Nowadays, we know the cause of these divisions, and a few ways to help the rider and the elephant work as a better team. We can improve this ancient idea today by explaining why most people’s minds have a bias toward seeing threats and engaging in useless worry. To change this bias, we can use three techniques to increase happiness, one ancient, and two very new.

As a young kid I really loved sports, I played soccer, basketball, and softball. Everyone always asked why I stopped playing sports, I mean I wasn't like bad, bad. Even though I hated all the running, wall sits, drills, and whatever else the coaches threw at us, I could endure all that, it wasn't half bad compared to dealing with all the rude, snooty girls on the teams. My first bad experience with the team members was in sixth grade girls basket ball. Those chicks were hard to get along with from the very first practice.