My daughter and I were waiting at the bus stop for my son to come back from his inter-school tournament. He enjoys skating.
The bus arrived, he saw us waiting, there was a big smile on all of our faces. He came jumping towards us and I asked, did you have fun? Yes, he said.
I spoke to his sports coach to get a sense of how he did, the coach said he did well. I was happy.
And that’s when the kiddo told, I won gold, I wanted one and this feels so nice Papa. I could feel the happiness in this 7-year boy’s eyes. I also felt good and proud.
Went to congratulate the sports coach and I was also wondering why had he not shared this news with me? He said yes sir, he won gold but he was the only one in his category who participated. The excitement fizzled.
Within a second, a 7-year-old’s early morning practise sessions, weekly practice sessions, internal selection process, an improvement over his earlier performance, all became insignificant.
Being a father and a coach, I did correct myself. But why are we so hard conditioned to enjoy thing only if we have done better than others?
Do we carry this thought to our workplaces too?