Competition is how you see it.....

I am the secretarial chairperson for the NAACP Act-so scholarship program South-side branch and I have been working with our young people in this program and others. My eldest child, Jacqueline, competed two years and went to nationals. In this role, we do a lot to prepare them for competition and I keep finding myself talk to them about their nerves and who they are competing against.

It's natural to feel some trepidation about presenting a project or performance that you have pour time, energy, and bit of your soul into foe others to review, however, often times their focus is pointing in the wrong direction. I find that most kids fixate upon the other competitors instead of competing against who they were yesterday.

No matter what the activity or project, the only true way to measure your progress is compete against yourself. Steel hones steel and while you are counting the number of steps your colleagues, you miss count your own. This should be the foundation of your education, getting better and better piece by piece. Framing your picture in another's framework will not work. My favorite saying about this is "If I am busy being like my sister, then who will be busy being me?"

Young people have so much to consider, take on, overcome, decide, and to become. It is not a small thing for a teenager to decide to go to law school and make steps in that direction. With those words, you are trying to determine what the next 40 years or more of your life will become, having only lived just a few. Missteps and uneasiness are always apart of the learning process but can often deter a young person.

I have no magic wand to make everything okay, however, when I changed my focus from other's progress onto my own it helped me tremendously. It allowed me to be honest with myself about where I was on my journey and how much further I wanted to go. As a chef, the next chef on my team is not going to be happy if I can't hold up my end, or will be unwilling to pick up my slack, whereas when I am on top of my skills and work outputs, other's can then rely on my work and seek me out for advice or leadership beyond my work requirements which can make my participation a blessing instead of a curse. Hold up a mirror to yourself, not to groom your appearance, but instead to groom your ability. Life is not just about the destinations, it's about the journey. I don't expect perfection from others or myself, I expect progress.