You can gain power, gain control over the mind for the purpose of concentration, for the purpose of discernment, for the purpose of release. That’s a game when there are no losers. It’s a positive-sum game.

"Most of us in life live in a world where we think every game is a zero-sum game. If somebody else gains something, we lose. If they lose, we gain. And so there’s a constant battle back-and-forth. If someone else gets the advantage, we’ve got to take it away from them somehow.

But it turns out that that’s not a zero-sum game, it’s a negative-sum game. Both sides lose in games of that sort because both sides end up doing things and saying things and thinking things that are really harmful. And then what happens? You both die. And what do you have left? All the habits that you’ve built in your mind. And because both sides have been building bad habits, you’ve lost and the other person’s lost. As they say, even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.

So it’s important that you don’t play those games. The important games are the ones where you come out ahead and the other person comes out ahead. That means you focus mainly on this game inside: on what’s in charge inside your mind.

In the world outside, some people gain power, other people lose power. But that kind of power usually doesn’t mean anything in the long term. Look at all the powerful people in the past: Where are they now? What did they gain from their use of power? The only way they may have gained is if they used their power for the good. But most people don’t do that.

Yet if you look inside the mind, here’s something where you can gain power, gain control over the mind for the purpose of concentration, for the purpose of discernment, for the purpose of release. That’s a game when there are no losers. It’s a positive-sum game."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "A Positive Sum Game"