Competitions abound in every possible arena. Preparing to compete for your dream takes years of practice. The big day comes and there's only one winner.

What do you learn when you win or lose?

I've had the opportunity to compete for beauty pageant titles, book contracts, jobs, commercials, spelling bees, and even choir trips.

THS Highlights, we won a spot to sing at the national music convention in New Orleans 1981

I've won each and lost each.
But each loss taught me how to hone my skills and each win built my confidence.
I learned that every time I compete, there's another opportunity to try again.
I've also learned the loss took me to a better place the next time. Sometimes it meant I changed direction and sometimes I came back stronger with a higher level of skill to win. I've begun to trust loss is often a gift to a higher win even when it's different than the first goal.

What are some competitions you've been in before?

Have you won or lost?

What did you learn from each experience?

More competition, including a cupcake recipe, over at: http://www.thefaithgirls.com