My brother used to drive me nuts when we were kids. No matter what we were doing it had to be a competition for him. Whether we were playing Monopoly or riding bikes, it had to be about who won or went faster or did it better. I often just wanted to have a good time without the constant need to compete with him.

I remember one time in particular when I got really frustrated with him. My parents had bought us a really cool shuffleboard table for Christmas that year. I wanted to get it set up and start playing immediately. My brother made me wait almost all day while he read the shuffleboard game rules and learned all of the tricks about how to beat me at the game. By the time we got around to playing it wasn’t even all that fun to play with him.

In the end, though, I think that all of that competition made me a better person as an adult. I can handle competition really well in the real world. I’m successful at the things that I try to do because I’m not afraid to compete with the men and women who I’m going up against. So I guess I should thank my brother for all of those years of frustration but I’m not sure that I want to give him the satisfaction of winning once again!

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