There are competing processes in nature even without life (in the usual sense of the word) - atomic nucleus fission/fusion, light absorption/emission, crystal n

There are competing processes in nature even without life (in the usual sense of the word) - atomic nucleus fission/fusion, light absorption/emission, crystal nucleation vs. decay, molecule synthesis vs molecule decay - each process operating towards getting more ground. Life fighting (or helping) other life can be looked upon as a more complex variant of the same process dynamics: one set of atoms and processes interacting with other set of atoms and processes, sometimes this looks like cooperation, sometimes like a battle.