Long Live the Participation Trophy

Greg Myers
Aug 25, 2017 · 4 min read
You’ve done a lot of quitting in life if you’re making “this” sign.

That Run, Though — Aug 25

I think participation trophies are a big deal.

And, no, this isn’t a joke.

Most people think participation trophies are ridiculous, that they’re a product of a generation where everyone has to be a winner and no one’s feelings can ever get hurt.

This is going to hurt their feelings.

The people who have a problem with participation trophies are the same people who have a problem showing up and participating in anyone’s life but theirs.

Participation is a choice. When you make the choice, it creates a responsibility. When you learn how to follow through with that responsibility, you become a better human.

You learn how to do that by participating. If you never try, you’ll never do.

We’re better off having participation trophies.

Making a commitment to yourself and other human beings is a big deal. Learning how to show up to practice, games or events, and putting forth an effort to win makes better people. Rewarding kids and reinforcing these traits is something we should be doing more of, not less.

I know plenty of adults that have trouble showing up for anything.

I know even more that can’t make a commitment.

I know a whole lot of folks who not only don’t put forth an effort, they think they don’t have to and they’ll still be taken care of.

They learned at an early age that if it doesn’t work for you, just quit. And quit. And keep quitting.

What happens when they never find something they can’t win at?

They keep quitting.

I know that’s the extreme, but some form of that story manifests itself everywhere in our country. Meanwhile, humanity continues to degrade itself. Eventually, we all lose as we can’t even participate in our own lives anymore.

I understand the counter argument, too.

I get it that rewarding everyone waters down the real winners and condones, maybe even encourages, losing as long as you give your best effort because you still get something.

I get it that those against participation trophies are trying to create an environment that encourages and fosters winning.

It’s just that type of environment is a cutthroat, kill’em all world where only the best of the best type-a personalities can survive.

That environment has its place in the world and is needed. It just doesn’t have a place amongst children who we’re trying to develop into better people than we are. If we really want a better world for our children, we should be trying to create it.

It’s funny how pissed we get at the millennial generation when we’re the ones that created them. It’s like farting and then being upset that it smells. You had the choice. You farted. Deal with it.

Then there’s Glenn Beck: The dude that says fathers and sons should get together and smash those participation trophies.

Beck has done a lot of good in this world. He’s done a lot of stupid, too. This is one of those stupid things where he should go home and smash his dick in a drawer for this idea.

The argument about what every kid should get is that every kid should be getting better parenting. Meanwhile, we’re all off arguing about participation trophies. It’s no wonder we’re the country that thought either Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton were our best choices as president.

Its time we start trying to make the world a better place. The best way to do this is to learn how to take care of you. The best way to do that is to run, but we forgot how to do that a long, long time ago.

It’s time we start remembering.

If you want to be a better runner, you have to put in miles. The first step to putting in miles is showing up.

Participating. Even if it’s just in you. Participate.

When you start, you’re going to suck. The key is to not give a fuck and keep showing up, keep putting in the miles.

Keep participating.

You will get better. It’s impossible not to. You just have to keep showing up and run. You have to make a commitment. You have to put forth an effort.

Then, not only will you become a better runner, you’ll become a better person. You’ll start showing up where you need to be. You’ll begin to make and follow through with more commitments. You’ll see that the more effort you put in, the more you will get out.

And you learned all that from just showing up and running.

It takes a lot of running, but it’ll be one of the best investments you’ve ever made.

We need to start participating in our own lives more. We want someone else to do it for us, but that will never happen. The only person that can do that is you.

That process is the most evident in running.

Show up. Make an investment in yourself. Make you and the world a better place by participating in your own life.

Go run.

And if participation trophies are the Band-Aids for this problem, then let’s Band-Aid the living fuck out of it.

I don’t care if it takes billions of them; give the kids the damn participation trophy.

You can’t do any of this if you don’t show up for that run, though.

Participation is a big deal.

The Ascent

A community of storytellers documenting the journey to happiness & fulfillment.

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Greg Myers

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Writer, Runner, Husband, Father: Trying to get better at all of them.

The Ascent

A community of storytellers documenting the journey to happiness & fulfillment.

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