Article August 14, 2000 Issue

Sincerity leads to success

The reward comes with doing your best.

By Lynn Gray Jackson

There is a preschool teacher my husband and I just love. Once a year, usually early in the term, she explains to her students that pushing ahead of everyone else, not sharing, and not being patient are sometimes harmful. Generally, after this lesson her students go home in a more mannerly fashion and act more lovingly. And they usually remember not to push and shove to get ahead.

In our adult world, however, there does seem to be a lot of pushing and shoving. We all face the temptation to be first, to get ahead faster, to do better than others. Left unchecked, excessive competitiveness might reach into every nook and cranny of our lives—from how we drive to what company we decide to work for.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with trying to secure a better place for ourselves—if our motive is to serve others better. But if we're trying to get ahead of others simply to gain wealth or status—to glorify ourselves—we may begin to feel that material things are what make us important, and that it doesn't matter how we go about obtaining them.

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