Also, if I have not said it already, Happy New Year and I wish you all, my readers, the best in 2012!
I was reading an article during my travels in Vibe magazine, an interview with Lil Wayne, quite possibly the biggest Hip Hop star in the world, arguably of course. In the article, he says, "Music isn't about competition no more. All the gangster rappers are happy, all the skateboard rappers are happy, all the white rappers are happy...Competition is for the old guys."
If you are not a Lil Wayne fan or you do not know who he is, Lil Wayne is the face of the next generation of young people, as a matter of fact they should be called Generation W for Generation Wayne. Oftentimes, if you find yourself trying to understand the next generation, go and listen to one of his songs, you may be enlightened and in a better position to communicate with your sons and daughters!
This is what really worries me about his sentiments and what I want to talk about. Man, from the beginning of time, has always been in competition. Competition is what drives any man to be better than he was yesterday. When we are young boys, the most popular boy was the kid who ran the fastest or had the best grades or was the best at something in that school. We are taught that you should WANT to be the best, #1, and anything other than that is secondary, loser, losing. "Second place only means you are the first loser!"
Anybody know who the Mavs beat last year for the NBA Title, Packers beat in last year's Super Bowl? As a society, we love winners and want to be part of and cheer for a winner. Somewhere in the space time continuum, we decided to start giving out ribbons for the kid who came in 10th place. Huh? What? The proper response to someone coming in last is "Hey kid, you lost, try again! Try harder! Go practice and get better and maybe you will win next time!" Nowadays, its "Johnny you did a great job, way to go, next time you might get 9th place!"
At one point in my life, I was cut from the sport I wanted to play for the rest of my life. I was sad and mad initially but I did what the coached asked me to do, what areas he told me to get better in and come back next year and I would make the team. I spent the next 12 months doing just that and I was rewarded for my efforts and my improvements. And that right there taught me invaluable lessons that I hold on to, to this very day:
1. You want something bad enough, you must go after it and work hard to get it
2. No such thing as a free lunch
3. No one remembers second place
4. The King always goes home with the Prom Queen!!!!
Now, my lessons may have created a monster because I wanted not only make the team but I wanted to be the best, I wanted to win and I wanted to be known as a winner. I learned that winning is an attitude first and foremost and if you do not go into every situation with the attitude that you are going to win, you will lose...THAT SIMPLE!
Allen Iverson got a lot of flack for his comment that he did not respect Michael Jordan on the court but off the court, he felt he was the greatest. But on the court, Iverson looked at MJ as just another player he had to beat to win and it was possible. As small in stature as Iverson was, he always felt that he could win, he had a winning attitude. Michael Jordan was the same way which is why he has 6 Championships to his name.
As much as I dislike Tebow, I can say with all honesty that he is a winner and his winning attitude is contagious and has been spreading throughout the Denver Broncos football team.
We are breeding a generation of young people who do not value competition and therefore are becoming very complacent with achievement in all areas of life: academics, sports, socially, and financially. Ever wonder why we are falling behind in our education as opposed to some of the Eastern countries? Why are we starting to become second fiddle on the Olympic stage in almost all sports? Why are jobs constantly being shipped overseas?
We do not strive to be the best anymore, that is why and we are being affected by this and I do not know how we can stop it! Any suggestions????
Ok, good topic. I can see this as society making a large seperation from old to new generation. Alot of people tend to ignore and create a world of there own which in light has open the doors for "I'm gonna do me" type mind sets. We are no longer involved in the new generation which is not what our great leaders of yesterday taught us.
ReplyDeleteNice thread Bro!
ReplyDeleteMr. InEffable agrees that competition is necessary in every field and does make you try harder instead of being complacent. I would also like to bring up the recent invention of the anti-bully laws and bills that are being passed and enforced are allowing kids to BECOME AND REMAIN SOFT! Don't get me wrong, I don't believe anyone should EVER BE BULLIED, but when laws have to be created as a result of kids not standing up for themselves and being able to speak out against being bullied..."Houston...we got a problem." We didnt have the "white glove" treatment in the 80's and we arrived into adulthood just fine. Another observation I find rediculous is the amount of attention being paid to "unnecessary roughness" in football, specifically the NFL. Th sport was created as a CONTACT SPORT. Every time a new rule is created to "protect" the QB or WR, you are taking a small piece of the game away and leaving the sport with nothing...basically REMOVING THE COMPETITION! Just like today's youth, when you congratulate them on making 9th place in a ten person competition, you are rewarding FAILURE! Kids need to innately know the difference between winning and losing, succeeding and failing. Otherwise, how will they EVER be truly prepared for the real world?!