THE COMPETITIVE SPIRIT
There’s an ancient Greek legend that illustrates beautifully the plight of combative competition. In one of the important races, a certain athlete ran well, but he still placed second. The crowd applauded the winner noisily, and after a time a statue was erected in his honor. But the one who had placed second came to think of himself as a loser. Corrosive envy ate away at him physically and emotionally, filling his body with stress. He could think of nothing else but his defeat and his lust to be number one, and he decided he had to destroy the stature that was a daily reminder of his lost glory. A plan took shape in his mind, which he began cautiously to implement. Late each night, when everyone was sleeping, he went to the statue and chiseled at the base hoping so to weaken the foundation that eventually it would topple. One night, as he was chiseling away the sculpture in violent…
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