Do you let suffering become a competition?

'It’s not a competition!' This is a common phrase for me, especially when surrounded by competitive men.

When I ran camps, 'competitiveness' was often an issue with male leaders - often to the point of having to write this into my risk assessment. The desire to win a game often clouded out the need to keep children, and themselves, safe from injury! The risk assessment then became a competition - the win being to be named as a risk in it.

Sometimes in this world it feels as though everything is a competition. I loathe programmes on the TV that turn a fun hobby into a competition - Bake Off, Sewing Bee, Throw Down - the list is endless and I watch precisely none of them. You can probably think of even more areas that have become competitive that never use used to be.