I was born with a competitive soul, but it’s not the kind that is constantly challenging others in an effort to prove I am the best. I’m competitive when a challenge is placed before me.

For instance, when I am playing a game of cards, I can be pretty aggressive and if participating in a race, I move as fast as my legs will carry me.

I remember when I was in about the fourth grade. The boys in my class would get together and see who could run the fastest. I jumped in on the fun and wound up beating them all. Obviously, they weren’t real happy with the outcome so they didn’t let me play anymore.

I am also competitive with myself, with challenges varying from making the backyard look nice to even writing this column.

So it makes sense that as the editor of Vicksburg Living, I browse through magazine racks and thumb through a few of the copies displayed to check out the competition.

Needless to say, I walk away proud, knowing our staff produces a quality periodical.

With that being said, after the publication of The Vicksburg Post’s 2021 Profile Magazine that came out in last week’s edition, it looks like I may have a bit of competition on my hands.

That sounds crazy since everyone who works on the Vicksburg Living Magazine also worked on the annual Profile section.

But in my mind, what made it a rival was not only the attention-grabbing theme, “Letters From Home: Stories of Vicksburg For Every Letter in the Alphabet,” it was also the stories were all interesting and informative.

We, at The Post, have received a lot of positive feedback about Profile and if you haven’t seen a copy, be sure and pick one up. Also, the stories are being shared at vicksburgpost.com.

Many of these bite-size tales revolve around Vicksburg history, including the painted gorillas on Washington Street. It’s hard to believe they have been around for so long.

Admittedly, it was a bit nerve-wracking adding assignments for this Profile section to my part-time-employee-role for The Post and working on Vicksburg Living. Not sure how the full-time- guys in the newsroom pulled it off. They are rock stars in my mind.

However, there was an upside. In the midst of the stress, the research I did was really interesting and the interviews fascinating.

And because many of the stories grabbed my attention, I figured I could take the bull by the horns and include expanded versions of a few in the Vicksburg Living Magazine.

In Profile, word count was limited due to the number of stories that were published, so I figured I can take a good idea and expound on it. And lucky for me, the competition doesn’t mind if I steal a few good ideas.