There is nothing that trips my trigger more than the “boys are better than girls” phrase, whether you are talking about athleticism, intelligence, work, etc. I definitely don’t think we are equal, we both have our own strengths and weaknesses and lately I have been reflecting on what my own personal attributes are.

This journey started over a glass of wine with my boyfriend, a little flushed and before I knew it I bet him $50 that I could beat him in bowling. So we bowled, I lost, whatever, that is not the point. The point is, I started realizing that I wasn’t trying to prove that I was actually better at “bowling”; I was trying to prove I was BETTER than what people thought in general about me. (Not referring to my significant other, he knows I am amazing) but why did I even care?

Think about it, life has always been a competition. We are competing to have better body features than the person next to us in the gym, more attractive personalities than the other girl at the party, a better job than your classmates, and really just a better life in general. While competing for these things, we forget about other types of competitions like being the best friend you can be or being more sensitive to others in need or being healthier than you were yesterday or even becoming more successful than the 12-year old version of you had ever dreamed of.

Why do we constantly seek to compete against everyone else, when our biggest competition is staring right at us in the mirror?

My challenge for you is to start focusing on competing with yourself, to become the best version of “you” that you can be. Who cares if you aren’t a good bowler or you can’t run a super fast mile (my next bet against my bf, wish me luck) or you don’t have a job and are about to graduate, focus on being a better person everyday and before you know it everything around you will start to fall in place.

Throughout the past few weeks, I have figured out my strengths and I will share them: I am super compassionate, hard-working, my sweat pores are more active than anyone I have ever met, I know how to tell a lot of bad jokes, and I rock at Frogger (yes, the computer game that I actually did beat my bf at).

See that comment box below? I want to know what your strengths are!

“It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you keep on going.”

Kenzi Weidman