THE POST COMPETITION STAGES

After all the hoopla of a competition is over, there are many stages that we all go through.  These stages can be quite different depending on the outcome of the competition.

When we expect to end up on top but instead finish in the middle of the pack or worse dead last, the stages that we go through are much like the stages of mourning.  First there is denial. We justify our placing to ourselves by thinking, I did not get 6th place. I should have been first or at least in the top five. Surely they just overlooked me. Then there is the Anger Stage.  We start to get angry and try to find someone to blame.   We tell ourselves that the judges just didn't know what they were doing or that the people who did our color did not do it dark enough so it made us look bad on stage. Another good one that my hubby and I  always say to each other jokingly is, that if we could just get the right color, the right lighting and the right oil that we would be aces! There are always a million people or circumstances to blame other than yourself. The next stage is bargaining.  The vow that if you could only place higher at the next show you would do anything. You proclaim that you will train harder than ever before, make all the sacrifices and metamorphose yourself into the supreme athlete.  After a while of reflection, you realize that you did get 6th place and you start to let the feeling creep in that you are in fact a loser.  This is the stage of depression. You start to think that you are worthless and weak and have no business at all even being up on stage. After all, 6th place IS the 5th loser!! The last stage of defeat is acceptance. You go to your room, look at the pictures and realize that you did not look as good as you thought you did. For whatever reason, you were not at your best on stage. You start to understand that the judges can only judge what is in front of them.  It does not matter what you looked like the week before the show in the gym or what you look like the day after the show. It only counts for placing at a competition, how you dial it in on THAT day.  You start to accept that you can do better and begin to set your sights on a new goal.

When you are in the winners circle, the stages are a little different.  First is elation and disbelief followed by self praise and self promotion.  Next is the lapse in nutrition and training, which are usually replaced by a bit of gluttony and self indulgence. This usually only lasts a short time and then we finally reach equilibrium and transition back into the normalcy of proper diet and training practices. This scenario is much less painful than the agony of defeat.

Whether you win, lose, or draw, it is always a learning experience.  We all love the thrill of the chase leading up to the final event.  We can't control our competitive mindset. We  are helpless when we send in our entry form for yet another competition.  Above all, we keep coming back for more even when we are pushed down the hardest. My hubby and I went through this at our latest competition.  I competed Friday and my hubby on Saturday. Neither one of us did as well as we had anticipated. On Saturday I was pretty much at the stage of acceptance when my hubby was just entering the anger stage.  It was then that I realized some of the stages that we go through.  Although we did not come home with the hardware (our daughter, who competed also, brought home the family trophy), we still had a fabulous time seeing old friends and making new ones. We will continue to compete as long as our weary bones will allow because we are just obsessed with the chase. At the end of the day, you really can't beat the thrill of competition!!