Comments on Rusted Ruminations: Compared to What?

Thank's for the invitation to ruminate on your...

2009-10-05T18:49:47.411-07:00

Thank's for the invitation to ruminate on your ruminations, Rusty. I think it's interesting that this was the post that you targeted, because your musings in this particular one are ideas that I've thought about a lot over the years. What I find most intriguing is the fact that you can take two related individuals who've grown up in the same environment and place one in a palace and the other in a prison, with upside down results - the prisoner will mentally convert his cell into a palace while the other will make a prison out of his/her luxury. So it's not about what we have, but rather about what we are internally. BTW, I've always thought that you could be a professional writer, not just because of your polished form but, more importantly, because of your substance. But what's most important, of course, is that you enjoy the endeavor. I look forward to your future posts. - Leo

Rusty, your post provides much food for thought. A...

2009-09-29T15:10:29.644-07:00

Rusty, your post provides much food for thought. Although, the first part does not really distinguish between people who want to improve for the sake of improvement and between people who improve for the sake of competition, and the ones that always want more because they have a fill a void inside themselves.
I think that actually most people improve because it this based on their curiosity and creativeness. Otherwise there would not be progress and further development of any kind. People need to move boundaries, discover, and go further, because it is in our genes. If a bunch of people had not strived to get better, I would not be posting this comment with my computer, for example.

On the other hand, a group of people aim to improve just for the sake of competition. Competition is also based on genes. Competition is necessary because it drives us to move boundaries (for example at sports). Unfortunately there are those people that are driven by competition only, who instead of developing further restrict themselves to compare themselves to other people and get locked into the never ending trap of competition. There is no end to it as there are just too much people around to compete with. I don’t think this type of people would stop this behavior by being told to take it easy. The strong urge to compete is a symptom of an emotional emptiness which keeps them from feeling good about themselves. Their strong competitiveness is just a way of filling this emptiness by making the mistake of focusing on other people’s achievements instead of on their own shortcomings.

Some other people are never satisfied by anything they achieve or buy and therefore need more and more. They have this huge expectation that buying just this one more thing will make them happy only to realize that after they obtained it they are not happy at all because now there is something else they want. Nothing will fill their void inside, but part of filling this void is obtaining the thing, not owning it. But since obtaining it is such a short lived satisfaction, they will continue to accumulate all sorts of stuff and wondering (or not) why it does not make them happy.

Amazing commentary, Rusty. I can see that you are ...

2009-09-25T16:26:56.360-07:00

Amazing commentary, Rusty. I can see that you are secure within yourself, in competition with no one.
I have so many responses to your words, but here are just a few.
Somethiing I heard once and love to quote, "We buy things we don't want, with money we don't have, to keep up with people we don't like."
Also, my youngest 3 sons, when calling for a place in line, or in a game, would holler, "SECOND!" instead of "First." They found that this got them in the front of the line all the time, because everyone else was calling for first.
Thank you for words that hit me right in the heart.
Dixie

I learned something tonight at the play 'Legal...

2009-09-24T23:32:32.741-07:00

I learned something tonight at the play 'Legally Blonde' - what does not kill us makes us hotter.

This is a great post. I laughed, I cried, I did a spit-take just because I could.

I'd love to break down this game film and discuss each part but better to just toss some kudos and go away. Thanks again Rusty.

Omedeto