Finding out just how competitive to be is akin to striking a fine balance.
You don’t want to be so non-competitive that you ultimately don’t care about the result and, therefore, don’t try very much, as that might actually diminish some of the fun of playing (for everyone involved). However, it might be much worse to be so overly competitive that you’re ruining the game for everyone – either by gloating or by being unpleasant when you lose.
Learning how to hone this competitive mindset to serve you as well as possible means applying it to various different contexts.
Losing as a Part of the Game
The first thing to remember is that outside of a draw, someone has to lose. The whole dynamic of the game, the whole reason that excitement and tension are allowed to build up at all, is because there’s a strong chance that someone will walk away the victor, leaving the less fortunate party to concede defeat.
Losing isn’t something to be ashamed of here, it just happens. If you can prove to yourself and everyone around you that you’re capable of being gracious in the face of defeat, it reflects incredibly well on you and it might even enable you to get more out of the game. Defeat can be instructive, and other times, it might just be that your opponents outplayed you, even despite your best efforts, which again, is nothing that you should let get in the way of enjoying a well-played game.
The Gaming Microcosm
The world of gaming is interesting to examine here because you have both online and offline play. When you’re playing against the game itself, how you act in victory might not feel as though it matters as much, but becoming too upset when you lose or fail can bring into question why you even play the game at all, as it might be doing you more harm than good.
In cases like live poker played through a Canadian online casino, that competitive, on-the-pitch urge might rear its head again, but it’s important to remember how important control of your emotions can be in this game. You’re on a safe, secure, encrypted platform that offers you convenience in the form of multiple payment methods, alongside the advice to help you gamble responsibly, there’s no reason to lose your cool.
The Other Perspective
Whether the sport that you’re talking about is an individual sport, a team sport, or even if you’re not directly playing and you’re talking about the supporters of the opposition – think about things from their point of view. Do you want to be playing or spending time with people who are going to be unbearable in victory and antagonistic in defeat?
As mentioned before, someone has to win and someone has to lose, and you can keep spending time with people who are on the other side and keep being friends with them so long as this dynamic is understood. After all, if you were always guaranteed victory, your sport would likely become boring – it’s the game itself that draws you to enjoy it.
