by Jonas Stewart

Created on: March 29, 2009

As everybody knows, life is all about competition. Just look at this article you're viewing right now. It's in a competition with the other ones under this title. And in everyday life we get confronted with challenges, too. We continuously need to compete with others. For instance, when we are looking for a job, or when we are studying for exams, or when we do our favourite sport. Life is one big competition.

Now everybody understands that some people may feel nervous when they are in a delicate and important situation, like a competition which they need to win, but how do we help them if we just protect them from all the risks and unpleasant details of life, just because we love them so very much? Protecting them for a long time only to let them out in the wild at a certain point when they turn 18 is just not human. It would be like throwing someone into the sea who never learnt to swim. He's bound to drown. And so are adolescents who never had to fight in their lives. (Of course, this rule does not apply to Paris Hilton and Co.)

Young people have to be confronted with the real life and learn as soon as possible what it means to take responsibilities and to function in the big clockwork which is our society. And fortunately one major part of it is competition, because it enables us to assess the skills of individuals and thus evaluate whether they are suitable for a certain job or not. Young People at school or just starting work are no exception to this rule: They have to show what they are capable of in order to earn more money, so they profit immensely from the competition. Competition is crucial for the functioning of our society.

Scientific research has signifcant proof that for most of us, nervousness and stress aren't necessarily bad. They're uncomfortable, that's for sure, but they actually help us to work better because nervousness increases the amount of oxygen delivered to the brain. The whole biological process of being under stress was invented by nature in order to help us escape predators by running faster and reacting more smoothly, so it is a quite natural thing and corresponds to what we are supposed to feel when important things are happening. The only change is that now, it is a Spanish exam we're running from and not a T-Rex anymore. Still, it is an important behaviour which greatly helps us deal with everyday life.

Everybody who wants to assure their children a good life should have to courage to let go and let them deal with their problems themselves, because only this can assure their well-being in the long term.

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