The Petite Calculation

Feeling inadequate, fear of judgement from others, desperate to win attention, constant need to prove superiority, the need to win, ego addiction ……

Can you relate these with any one within your circle of acquaintances?

Take a step back to reflect.

Do you remember how your first ‘sharing‘ experience was like? Playing toys by ourselves was fun in the beginning. It felt like we own the only thing we ever wanted, and we just want to have it all to ourselves, all day and time. But, it didn’t take long before we got bored with our usual play routine.  Thereon, we try to find ways in keeping our excitement alive. Play experience was later amplified together with new play pals and toys, which led to larger than life imagination.

Sharing, in fact, brings greater joy altogether.

Regrettably, not everyone believes the same. Amidst competitive pressure, negative thoughts kick in at ease. Sharing can be seen as ‘giving a chance for opponent to score better than us‘. Perhaps the opponent in this context can be assumed as the pal we are sharing experience with. Hold on a second, how did sharing turned sour?

We are human. We love socialising, but with boundary that could put our interest ahead of others. We are also easily influenced and carried away by our emotions – forgiven.

The sky has no limit – Anonymous

Sharing requires open heart and open mind, and the more we share, the more we learn from each other. Sharing combines thoughts, ideas, knowledge, and resources of two or more people. It potentially can bring bigger and better, as well as effective and efficient outcomes. It also has the power to bring people together.

Nonetheless, if sharing is mistakenly taken as measure of competition, ie: outsmarting each other or competition of who has a better brain, it’s human nature to react by limiting and taking calculated risks on what’s being shared – an unfriendly disease to have.

Over time, sharing is no longer sharing, but instead it becomes a tool to manipulate others for selfish reasons. The less we share, the less we learn. In this new world of transparency, we cannot afford to be knowledge-stinge, and being calculative over petite insights. They can only hinder us from developing further. Besides, competing from a fairground makes us feel more deserving if we achieve victory. Even if we don’t attain victory, at least we have learned from others who are better than us. Stay positive!

Photo by Sophie Elvis