Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Compassion vs. Competitiveness

Audrey had her first cross country meet yesterday afternoon.  Matt and I were unable to go, so I asked her to text me after her race to let me know how she did.

This is her text to me:

"I got 18:12 but I walked with a girl named _____ _____ cuz she has knee prob and her knee almost gave out and no one else was behind us for a while and so i walked with her a couple of times but i guess i did good. got 12th place overall."

Of course my first reaction, being as competitive as I am and all (albeit not athletically competitive), was You did what? Walked? Did we pay-to-play speed walking or cross country? Leave the injured and RUN!

I actually sent her a text back telling her that she should discuss what to do in those situations with her coach, because she could have cut 3 minutes off her time if she hadn't stopped to walk. Geez-oh-petes.

But, that is the way Audrey is... on the soccer field in seasons gone by, she and her teammates have literally stopped to apologize if they knock someone over on the opposing team and ask if they are okay. Pfft.

I wonder if you can teach competitiveness? And, if not, we are thankful for Audrey's compassion. Maybe she will end up a team trainer.

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