I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to competition. I love to win and hate to lose! There is definitely some interesting psychology that goes behind winning and losing. You obviously need the skill to compete so if you don’t have that, there isn’t much hope for you. Once you have the skill however, that’s when things start to get interesting. If you want to win too much then you may start playing not too lose which is a sure-fire way to ensure that you lose. If you don’t want to win enough then you may not go for it when the other person does which will probably result in you losing.

I believe that playing to win means giving it your all and letting the results take care of themselves. In order to compete effectively you must put the idea of winning and losing aside because they are a byproduct of what you do on the field. You must completely hone in on what you have to do and do it to the best of your ability. If you end up losing and you gave it your all, you have nothing to feel down about. That being said, there is definitely a way to play to win.

You have to be willing to give it more effort than your competition. You need to know what it takes to win and resolve that you’re going to shoot for it with laser-like focus. Even if you start losing in the competition, you have to keep fighting until the game is officially over. I wonder how many of us in life choose to play to win. There are many adversaries that come against us on the road to our final destination. I approach life from a Christian perspective so let me tell you what playing to win means to me.

It means that God has a call on my life and there are adversaries in the way that will try to steal God’s best for me. Playing to win means that I will not back down and that I’m willing to lay down all that I have so that I can experience the call of God on my life. It means that no relationship, no hobby, no dream or addiction is going to stand in my way. I have to keep that resolve every day because going into the day I know there will be plenty of opportunities to compromise. Opportunities to compromise my integrity, my passion, my focus and everything else that matters. Playing to win means that I have resolved that the fight I’m engaged in is worth dying for and that I’m willing to pay the price.

What about you? In what contexts do you play to win? Are those competitions worth the effort? Is there anything or anyone in your life that you’re willing to lay it all down for? I hope this post has stirred you to consideration on some of these matters.