Pride Goeth Before the Fall

Proverbs 16:18
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."  And nothing proved more true at the gym today than that.  In our Bootcamp class we had a little fitness competition.  There were 9 stations or so and we had a minute to do each one, trying to rack up as many repetitions as possible.  At the end all your numbers were combined to form your score and winner. 

As I went through the first few stations I was killing it: 61 bicep curls in a minute, 71 standing rows, etc...  Pulling further and further ahead of the pack I felt secure in my win because for me it wasn't really about doing my best at each station but coming out the winner in the end.  My best competition was a friend in the class who followed me at each station.  Near the end feeling confident in my winning I went through the stations putting up solid scores feeling no need to push myself to the limits to win.  Only to discover that she in the end beat me by four points or overall reps.  Never had I been so shocked or appalled.  Not at her performance, because I was proud of her, but that I would have such a terrible and proud attitude which in the end led to my failure not in that fitness competition although in that too, but in my character. 

It just reaffirms to me what I was telling my sister in Utah two weeks ago.  In our family we live far below our potential often thinking that if we are doing better than others than there is no need to be doing our best.  This was a good and humbling reminder why I shouldn't compare myself to others and instead should worry about just putting up my personal best.  Oh how I hate humble pie.  But here's to hoping it becomes an acquired taste.