For what do we strive for?

I was reading the lectionary for this week as I prepare for Sunday. This week is also our county fair. As we prepare ourselves for all that the fair represents especially to our community, I sometimes wonder about what is it that we strive for. For our youth there is the competition for that blue ribbon and the purple best in class. For those who rodeo, it is that eight seconds on the bull. For the carnival and rides, it is the number of tickets sold. Even for our church which has a wonderful food stand, it is how many dinners did we sell. It is interesting that the lectionary for this week deals with becoming enamored with false gods, setting our thoughts not on Christ, or getting caught up in greed (Hosea 11:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21).
I know that competition is not an evil in and of itself. I have seen where healthy attitudes about competing have been beneficial to our development. Where I see problems is when competition becomes the end and not the means. What happens to a person who competes and only gets a white or red ribbon? Does that mean that they were not good? Sometimes people place their entire sense of self based on how well they do in competition and when they do not succeed become so discouraged that they become depressed and give up on themselves. I have also seen others judge people based on how well they competed.
There was a poem printed in "Behold: Arts for the Church Year," Pentecost 1 2007 page 6. The poem was written by Charles Reznikoff and the line was "Not for victory/but for the day's work done/ as well as I was able (Te Deum, Black Sparrow Books)." In our society, it is difficult not to get caught up in the competition and have the bigger houses, salaries, barns full of crops, or the number of blue ribbons. I would suggest that it is more important in this competitive world not whether we are victorius, but were we able to do what we can as "well as I was able." Do we want to have the recognition or can we be satisfied that we used the talents God has blessed us to the best of our abilities. Not for my glory but for the glory of God.
By all means let us compete but not define or worship false idols of success. Rather using competition as a means for us to continue to grow in our faith and strengthen our relationship with God our creator.