A Need to Compete

I don't know why but there exists in me, and probably in many, a need to compete. Now look, I don't get into all kinds of competition. Basketball for example. I stink at basketball though I enjoy playing. I do it for the exercise of it but have never been all that crazy about the game. I guess professional sports have also fallen down my list of things I care about. I don't really care if I don't catch the game and the fact that I haven't watched ESPN in years doesn't bother me a bit. What has happened to me? Where is my manhood? Dang, I just noticed that the US Women lost the soccer world cup and I didn't lose a bit of sleep over it. Okay, another quick confession. I don't boast a lot of confidence with the ladies so I don't really go after them. I really don't give myself a fighting chance in that arena when it comes to competing with other guys and it is easier to simply not subject myself to that torture. Shoot, I don't even know how much of it is even other guys that I am competing with there. Sometimes it is just life. I guess I feel like I am more of a disturbance to someones life routine and, well, I ask again What has happened to Me? Where is my manhood? President Fawson and I were visiting for a moment after moving tables and chairs this evening and he just told me I was good and would be a great catch for some lucky lady. All I can do is try to do what is right and trust in the Lord. Well, enough with this it is entirely off the subject and just completely bombed my entire post. Hopefully it did not.

When I was young I dominated the trampoline. Out of my siblings I was the best on it. This was a title I happily defended. It afforded me an opportunity to shine some. Intellectually I am a step behind my siblings, maybe it was two years of first grade that did something to me mentally or failing math. I don't know. Anyhow, I always had an edge physically and dad would always have me jump on the tramp to show off my tricks to friends of the family. I remember when we set it up in the cultural hall of the stake center in Honolulu and I performed tricks for the Stake. That was crazy. Anyhow, the fateful day came when Jay waltzed in and bragged that he could do everything I could on the trampoline. 'No you can't' was my reply. He ran through the list of tricks and sure enough he had me matched but he didn't really know that. I told him he didn't and he asked what else I could do. A double front flip. He told me I couldn't and so we went out and I did it - first time. Defended my dominant status and I am sure devastated Jay. Then the day came that he returned having accomplished the same and again told me he could do everything I could. Again I challenged the statement and his reply was the same wanting to know what he missed. A knee double front flip. Proving time was upon me again and again I pulled it off. It was awesome. I don't recall him ever coming back to tell me how he had me matched. Probably a good thing for me. Anyway, there was a need to compete and to be the best.

On my mission there was a time when we were helping a member move. It was the Forester family in the Bellville Ward. This was on my second 3 month assignment in the Bellville Ward when my companion was Justin Merrill. Also serving in the Ward was Beau Brandon Bingham and I think he was with Elder Black at the time. Anyway we were moving bricks and it became a competition of who could move the most bricks. We would stack them on a piece of wood and then carry them off. I may need to find my journal and see if I made record of this so I can be more accurate. For some reason the number 42 is in my head. It was a lot, that is what I can remember. But we just kept upping it every time and just laughed as we struggled to haul the load. It turned out that there was an ant nest in the bricks and we laughed about that as well as we were covered with ants. Oh the good times. Elder Black was a fun guy but Bingham and Merrill were my two favorite fellow missionaries. We had some great times together. Love those guys.

Tonight we were moving chairs to a relief society activity. President Fawson, Todd Allen and myself were on it. Naturally I had to throw out a little competition of how many chairs can you move. We were doing the customary 4. I threw out a 6 chair haul and what was my surprise when Todd was on it as well. I couldn't stand for that so I did 8. I think that stood as the record not because Todd couldn't do it but because we ran out of chairs. We joked about the tables and moving multiples of those on the solo. When we went back to pick them up later old President Fawson shocked me when he came stormin down the driveway with two tables in his hand. He is the mans man. What a feat. Those things are heavy and awkward. We had a great time with it and I think it makes things fun. Not that any of us had to dominate. I give the table crown to President Fawson hands down. I was not going to go for a double table move at all.

Moving chairs is not enough. The post doesn't end there. I was in the shop this evening and we decided it was time to rid the basement of the cherry chips. I am sure some will be disappointed with this news but believe me, Amy attempted cherry chip cookies on Sunday with those chips and they were disgusting. It was just gross and I couldn't get past the aged cherry morsels. Anyhow, I had made a sandwich and was visiting with Terrel Fox when the old man came in and said that Dave and Shelly were ticking him off. He went on to explain that Dave was hauling two bags at a time and he could barely move one. Then to add insult to injury Shelly was moving two also. I joked that I could moved three. Well, you have to back up a claim like that so I did, primarily to mess with Dave. It was heavy. That is 150 pounds of awkwardness. Well, Dave had to match and so he pulled 3 bags. I am just really happy there were no more bags in the basement. I would have gone for four and would have probably died.

So anyway I have a need to compete. I need to compete for the ladies and I need to be more dedicated to the cause - I know. Not the point. The point is that a good, clean healthy competition between friends or brothers can go a long way. I always have fun with it anyway. It is also fun to give Dave a run for his money. I will say this, 150 pounds of cherry chips is a lot. I don't know that my back really wanted to do that but I will survive.