The upside of competition

When she was 1 1/2 years old, our granddaughter learned to step over the threshold between our kitchen and dining room without falling. The first time she did it, she laughed, turned around and did it again.

She spent the next 10 minutes marching back and forth across that infernal piece of aluminum that had tripped her so many times before. She grew more and more delighted with herself at every crossing.

Based on her behavior, I think it’s safe to say that humans are prone to elation when besting a past performance. We seek improvement. We count our attempts, measure our efforts, time our tries. There’s something innately satisfying about mastering a new skill or finding a better way to accomplish a task, even if it’s just a more efficient system for mowing the lawn.

Before the days of battery operated trash cans, I kept track of my makes and misses in food prep basketball. I was deadly from every corner of the kitchen, shooting banana peels or instant pudding boxes into our 13-gallon waste receptacle. The wall suffered a bit from bank shots, but I cleaned up after myself, and the mock commentary added some drama to my cooking routine — most of my makes were Final Four buzzer-beaters.

We don’t need studies to prove it — we’re competitive. At its best, this drive spurs achievement. At its worst, it breeds compulsion. Somewhere between T-ball and the annual poetry reading contest, we can lose the purity of purpose that my granddaughter possessed in conquering our doorsill. But done right, competition helps young people who are learning to be humans become even better ones.

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