In what ways do we contain ourselves?

Last weekend, I was playing soccer at the center mid-field position, my favorite position. Much to my surprise and disappointment, I was playing against the same person I had played against the prior two weekends. The disappointment was due to the fact that this player is the fastest and most skilled player in the league. Playing against her meant I would be primarily playing a defensive game, focusing on containing her and preventing her from passing and scoring. What I enjoy most about the center mid-field position is the opportunity to play both offense and defense, creating new plays for our team offensively. Playing against her 3 weeks in a row meant I was finding myself playing more like a defender versus a midfielder, limiting my strategies to create scoring opportunities.  The end result was a level of frustration and disappointment.  How often do we find ourselves in similar positions in organizations today with a slowing economy, budget cuts or growing competition? Instead of moving forward with creative ideas and strategies in delivering services to our customers, are we instead containing the limited resources we have in fear we might lose them? Are we hunkering down in fear of being taking over by our competition? How often do we protect our own departments/divisions out of concern that our resources might be reallocated to others? Are we containing our efforts and energies out of fear of failure or looking bad? Can we admit to the new reality of resources and honestly assess our competition and move forward with energy, insight and creativity utilizing the strengths and talents at our disposal?