Is Life, a rat race, or a journey?

Our life always feels like a competition. We’re always on the run to achieve something. We are always surrounded by competitions. We have been influenced to believe that our world is highly competitive. So, all of us are constantly on the chase trying to win something, to prove us of something or to show off something to someone. To gain an advantage over someone, we run faster. And to always maintain a lead over the others and to stay ahead of the competition, we keep on running in the race.

We don’t even know when the race started. We have never wanted to be a part of this race. This race is not something we are just doing for ourselves. We all continue to run for many reasons, including money, material goods, respectable status, family, children, future needs, or any other cause. But, we are all forced to continue the race.

As we look back and think, our race would have started when we were admitted to study in a school. We were all forced to study because we were told that the only way to improve our lives was to study. We were all forced to study even though we did not enjoy our schools or our studies. When we were crying to attend our schools, our tears were wiped by feeding us with our interests and our minds were silenced by introducing us to the fellow racers who themselves were not interested in schooling.

We were encouraged to work hard in school so that we may attend a good college. As a result, we worked hard in our schooling. We were once again told to work hard in college in order to secure a high-paying career. And we continued to work hard in college. But, once again, we are all expected to work hard in order to make more money. As a result, we work hard every day and are beginning to earn money. We’re starting to buy items we’ve desired for a long time, and we’re starting to fulfill our wishes.

Wishing for something, working hard to accomplish that goal and then wishing for something else and working harder to fulfill the next wish, our lives become a race. The cycle of desiring for things again, striving harder, and accomplishing things continues indefinitely and this cycle never seem to end.

If the voice inside us answers that we do not desire for unnecessary things, but just buying only what we need, those new needs will always keep popping up once we fulfill the older needs. Isn’t it so?

So, we are always on the run chasing something and while we are running, we prepare our children to run the same race. We just allow them to take our places and equip them with better facilities but we force them to continue in the same race.

I ran the race because I did not have the luxury of a choice. I ran for my parents and my children are running for me. And I’m not the only one participating in this relay race but everyone around me is competing in the same race and running in the same manner.

We’re all following along like a flock of sheep. We all trail like rats, just running one after the other. But the race goes on even when our lives end.

Those who go to bed hungry wander around looking for food. Those who don’t have to worry for their food roam around to go about improving their lives. The educated are aiming for a contemporary, consumerist lifestyle. The wealthy flee to protect their belongings and reputations. People who are extremely wealthy and have built their wealth for many generations are also running for a reason or another. Therefore, regardless of whom we are or what we do, we are all members of the same race. But our differences are just like the different levels of the same game, the game of the rat race.

We may believe that working for our personal growth and for the needs of our families is a necessary part of life. So, we may even question what is wrong in striving for a comfortable lifestyle experience?

It is good to ask questions, but how come we are all asking the same questions? Isn’t this line of thinking, just the result of the human conditioning? If so, we need to question our way of thinking. We need to think for ourselves. We need to ask better questions.

Do we work for our personal betterment? Or do we ignore our own bodies and our inner instincts and run chasing money? Do we sacrifice for our family? Or are we getting caught in a work cycle environment with no time to spend with our loved ones? Do we seek a peaceful existence? Or are we losing the peace of our minds chasing the marginal gains and insignificant rewards in a never-ending race?

Aren’t our lives an adventure? We may mute ourselves by convincing that we are following our own paths and doing things our own way. But, we always tend to forget that the beauty of life depends on how satisfied we live and how much we enjoy in our journey of life.

Do we lead a peaceful life? Or are we toiling in a stressful environment? Do we find our journeys enjoyable? Or do we constantly feel pressurized to perform better? Do we live? Or are we running in a never-ending rat race?

The race we are running is continuously upgraded for us to distract us from its endless nature. The race does not stop for us to think and reflect about why we are always on the chase. The race is designed in such a way that we are only motivated to run, to run faster and to keep running and we are only rewarded when we lose ourselves in a pointless, never-ending race.

Let us question ourselves. Why are we running in our lives? What are we achieving by being in the race? When will we stop using our individual perspectives of our personal lives to defend the race? When will we realize what we as human beings collectively are doing on this earth? How are we going to quit the race to make a shift in our lives and in our society?

To continually ask such meaningful questions and to engage in constructive conversations, stay connected with Vattam. We are here to speak the truth. We are here to unite everyone.