Why People Compete With You When You Never Wanted to Compete

Why People Compete With You When You Never Wanted to Compete

(from The Empath Diaries by yourrrr_soul)

"I don’t know why he likes my drawings.

He’s so talented.

He already sells his paintings and people buy them.

But he always praises my creativity and doesn’t even try to show that he’s better than me.

It’s so strange.

I’m not used to this.

From a very early age I always felt that someone was competing with me even though I didn’t want to.

I just wanted to be friends with people, but in the end it always worked out that they started to compete with me — and our relationship ended.

It always started with the inconspicuous little things.

At first they began to make remarks to me as if out of the blue.

Then it started to happen more and more often and became a habit for them.

And in the end they always started to accuse me of being guilty because I was always competing with them.

But I never had such thoughts.

Even my mom did it.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that it was easier for me to be alone, maybe something was wrong with me.

He was different.

He always praised me.

And then one time he just asked:

“Do you want me to teach you how to put the right shadows?”

I nodded.

He didn’t point his finger at the drawing.

He didn’t comment on me.

He offered to teach me how to do it right.

And it was such a stark contrast to my ex-lover that my heart broke.

Maybe if you believed in me,

I would be the best for you.

But you didn’t believe.

You were looking for something better.

And that’s why I will be better for myself.

Not for you.

I’ll do it for me.

I will love myself so that I’ll never feel lonely and inadequate.

He never asked questions about her past.

He talked about colors, light, composition, and the way real art breathes when it’s honest."

Some people don’t know how to connect without competing.

They only understand relationships through hierarchy:

someone must be “above,” someone must be “below.”

And when they meet a person who doesn’t play that game, who simply is, who shines naturally — they feel threatened.

💎Here’s why:

1. Your authenticity exposes their insecurity

When you create from your soul, without calculation or agenda, people who rely on comparison feel naked.

Not because of you — but because of themselves.

2. Your talent reminds them of their unrealized potential

They see what they could have been if they didn’t abandon their gifts.

And instead of being inspired, they get jealous.

3. You don’t compete — and that confuses them

Some people can only understand love through power dynamics.

When you don’t try to “win,” they panic.

To them, your calm feels like superiority.

4. Your light attracts admiration — and they want that admiration for themselves

You don’t ask for attention.

But you still get it.

This makes competitive people feel invisible.

5. You are magnetic without trying

And that—more than anything—triggers those whose self-worth is based on being “better.”

The Truth About People Who Compete With You

People only compete with you because they secretly believe you might be special.

No one competes with someone they see as “less.”

Competition is always projection:

a mirror of their fear, not your intentions.

You’re not the problem.

You were never the problem.

The problem is that they didn’t know how to love you without turning you into an opponent.

Some people heal.

Some don’t.

But you — you heal, you feel, you grow.

And that is why you will always outgrow the ones who only tried to outrun you.

Read more on my Instagram:

@yourrrr_soul