At present I find myself constantly bombarded by things like this:

Well, not to be derivative but "I've got some bad news for you, sunshine"... 

The simple truth is that we love to see people happy and succeeding so long as they are not competing in our game, or if we have already achieved what they now have. Because...

Life is a journey AND a competition.

For most of human existence life has ALWAYS been about competition. Since the dawn of man's time upon this world we have fought for food, shelter, and living space. Our very presence is a result of countless millennia spent

• competing against predators larger than ourselves,
• competing against food animals larger than ourselves,
• competing against the elements for shelter and safety,
• competing against sickness and pestilence, drought and blight,
• and finally, competing against other humans who would rather take than build for themselves

Do not fool yourselves into thinking anything has changed: The competition continues even now!

What is business, if not a codified and regulated competition for supremacy?

Back in the old days, victory meant you got to live another day and continuous victory meant you eventually got to breed and preserve your line. Now, we compete for money and victory means enough to live on; continuous victory means becoming wealthy enough to stop competing...

Those who would rather take are still out there, too - most of us simply push that competition off locally onto our police forces; nationally onto our military. And then complain bitterly when they "fail" to isolate us from the competition that is life.

Competition is essential... where we do not have it, we will create it.

Competition is a fundamental element in the human race; when we do not have competition we invent it. When we cannot find competition or it is removed from us we wither on the vine. Do not believe me? Find some pictures of West and East Berlin during the cold war and look at the people's faces.

Martial arts training gives us humans that which we absolutely need, but most are loathe to acknowledge.

Martial training is often divided into method (-jutsu) and way of life (-do) and this can be thought of as learning how and why to compete (and win).

Proper training helps us develop the ability to defend ourselves, as well as win in life. This is good.

I love to see people happy and succeeding in their martial arts training.