It's Just You and Your Teammate

If you know me, you know that I'm not one to ever post song lyrics as a status or as some creative caption for an instagram photo... However,  being stuck in one of the university centers while studying for finals last week, I got to hear a lot of music and one lyric stood out to me more than anything else. Heard in John Legend's "All of Me" -
"Even when I lose, I'm winning"
I find this powerful, not necessarily in his context, but when applied to agility.
When you're entered in a trial, you're clearly running against others for the best time with a clean run. You are competing for placements... or are you competing for another reason?
I guarantee someone will not answer the question of "why do you compete in agility?" with the answer of "because I'm competitive and I want to beat everyone". Why?  Because agility is not just the physical game,  but the mental game. It's a learning and bonding experience.  It's a game we play with our dogs.
Back to this lyric, I truly believe it reflects how I personally feel every time I step in to the ring or even on my field at home. It's not about beating my competitors.  It's not about first, second, or third place. It's not about showing off. Winning is fun, exciting and a great confidence boost, but what is losing?  Is it giving up? Blaming your dog? Admitting defeat? Absolutely not. Who says you have to be the best all the time? Who says you have to be the best at all?
You may have a dog who struggles to even make time on the course,  but your small victories such as a hit contact or no knocked bars - that is winning.
Every single run is winning because we all have little issues to overcome, improve or learn. Someone may always be "better" than you,  but never forget that you're winning every time, even if a numbered score shows you're not.
Physically, you have competition.
Mentally,  your only competition is yourself.

Strive to improve,  to learn from every experience and most importantly - appreciate the little things and know that there is no such thing as 'losing'.