Why we compete, from the mouthes of (older ) babes

Recently I have been pondering this whole "competing" thing with the marching band.  Two things have come into play to bring about my reflection.  The subjectivity and randomness of judging results, coupled with my coming in contact with many band directors at Newsday with fine bands who do not compete have forced me to grapple with this whole concept.  As a staff we struggle with the competition environment.  As I always do, I went on to poll some of our band members.  They were incredible with their statements.  I received these quotes.  "Competing makes us strive to be great." "We learn about real life and subjectivity."  "We form bonds which band members for the rest of our lives." "We become a family and work together to accomplish a goal."  So, as usual, and I say this many times as an adult with 6 of my own children....."The kids are fine, I am not."  I am referring to the fact that the kids are more resilient, more flexible, more adaptable to change, and more forgiving with the judging results than we as adults are.  While we, the staff and parents, are all upset about the judge's results, scratching our heads to figure out what they were looking at, our great band members are eating a hot dog and deciding if they will by the sprinkle cupcakes or the white frosted ones on the food line.  We will compete forever.  We must realize why we compete and although we aim to win, we must realize that the results, no matter what they are, in this environment are more like spinning a roulette wheel at Atlantic City.  If we win, we get excited and feel amazing.  If we lose, we knew it was just a gamble and go to the buffet.