It’s easier said than done to avoid getting swept up in the constant state of competition that permeates our days. In fact, lately, it seems as if this lifelong “competition for greatness” is beginning at increasingly earlier ages. It’s not unheard of for parents to enroll their kindergarteners in academic test-prep classes, vying for their children to get ahead at the tender ages of five and six. Additionally, you need only flip on the television for a few minutes before you are inundated with programs and products that claim to help babies and toddlers acquire language skills ahead of their peers. In sum, we are ingrained with a sense of urgency and competitiveness as young children, which continues to inform our choices and behaviors for the rest of our lives. Following this train of logic, it’s not difficult to understand why many people in today’s world tend to cease to pursue interests that they find difficult to master. The pressures of modern social norms essentially leave no room for failure. A seven-year-old child who does not excel at soccer is deemed inadequate and left to hand out water bottles at games. Similarly, another young child who struggles artistically will likely be encouraged to stick to sports. Parents, in turn, attempt to mitigate the chances of their children experiencing this embarrassment by enrolling them in competitive and intense training programs when they are young. Even so, there will always be kids who struggle to swim in a straight line. Furthermore, social and economic inequalities prevent certain children from having access to these skill-set boosters. In short, there’s no tangible and easily definable method to push oneself or one’s children to the top of the pack.
In terms of finding a solution to this problem, I advocate for both equalizing access to supplementary training and education in all arenas and sculpting a new social norm in which it is acceptable to not be “great”, or even “good”, at all of one’s hobbies and passions. Equalizing access and diminishing pressure can serve as two vital incentives for people to pursue their areas of interest. Research has shown the immense and diverse benefits of a wide array of interests and activities, including, but not limited to, academics, physical activity, artistic endeavors, and team sports. Lots of children show interest in a multitude of these arenas at a young age. However, social pressures and inequities usually end up delegating kids to solely pursue the activities they excel at. What’s worse, if they have trouble finding something they excel at, children often give up on themselves and their passions entirely and experience feelings of failure.
It’s important for us, as people who care about others’ passions and sense of self-worth, to begin offering realms and pathways where everyone is comfortable exploring their interests. As opposed to creating more advanced and elitist groups, in which we place impressionable young children, we need to repurpose our conceptions of learning and extracurriculars to value personal fulfillment and enjoyment above competition and exclusivity. There should be sports teams available for those who love baseball but lack in hand-eye coordination. Similarly, there should be music classes available to those who are tone deaf and can’t differentiate notes on a page. Cultivating the freedom to explore one’s passions will lead to a world of more well-rounded humans who aren’t afraid to struggle or fail.