When most people hear tournament, they think competition… they think going up against others to score some kind of win or victory… they think comparison opportunity.
This past weekend, while hosting a martial arts tournament, I was thoroughly impressed with one of the visiting masters who brought an entirely different kind of energy to the event.
Rather than a, “let’s see how many of their students we can beat…” kind of energy, what he brought was a “let’s show appreciation to those who are helping promote the spread of traditional martial arts…” kind of energy.
And he showed up, not with an intention of taking as many of our trophies as possible, but with official certificates of appreciation that they honored several of our staff with.
…What he brought was honor and dignity to our event. More than was there before.
And in a world where so many people are focused exclusively on social hierarchies and clawing tooth and nail to improve their status… this was exactly the kind of breath of fresh air I—most probably we—needed.
Inner Work Prompt: Rather than focus on how you might be better than others or how they might be worse… how can you bring honor and dignity to those around you instead?