sports agro

First, let me say I am ridiculously competitive at sports. A lot of things, really, but sports in particular. Growing up, my brother and I were banned from playing board games in the house because 9 times out of 10 a full-on brawl would ensue. Naturally I was bigger and kicked his butt : )

But I still haven't managed to get over this competitiveness thing. I can't swim in the same lap lane or the lane next to Rob at the pool or I kill myself trying to out-swim him. In yoga class I always try to out-bend the person on the mat next to me. I'll reach deadly speeds trying to snowboard faster than the other guys on the mountain. It's really not healthy.

Unfortunately I also really like playing sports, especially with other people, on the weekend. Last weekend it was tennis, this weekend it was squash, etc. And every time I lose, the game suddenly is a lot less fun.

So what really drives me crazy is when people make this big point of telling me how horrible they are at a sport, how they haven't played in forever, or don't even know the rules, and then turn out to be really good. And I lose to them. It happened today, and I am still touchy about it. I think I need to focus more on individual sports. Or try therapy.