A Mad Race
by Ravi Tandon
One of the biggest misconceptions in life is that our life is a mad rat race.
Sorry, but I really do not agree.
We are born as innocent looking sweet kids, ready to enjoy the world and suddenly these kids are taught the concepts of competition of having to fight against other innocent, sweet looking sweet kids and win an illusionary struggle. The conceptions get deep rooted into our minds. This social conditioning gets embodied into our subconscious.
As we grow old, enter school, there are a system that gratifies only those who supposedly do well at a pre-determined set of subjects. In college, the story remains same. You go get a job, and you are pitied against each other on the basis of the amount of money you earn, and the story goes on …..
Life is a battle – for sure it is !!!
And yet, it is a battle against oneself, others are just companions, comrades fighting the same battle.
We have a very scornful metric based measurement system that supposedly measures our performance over our lives. What wer fail to understand is that no system can be perfect enough to understand your value other than the system you have evolved over your lives.
Yes, I agree that we as humans have to fight – this is a battle of survival. Yet, it is disconcerting to see people trying to beat each other at the game called life and at the same time praying for each other too.
Respect for other individuals, love, camaraderie, compassion have somehow been deteriorated in this race that we have falsely started to believe in !!!!
Life has to be loved, lived happily. There is no end goal, no end result, the almighty would not stand there with a report card there waiting for our performance review.
This is poem that relates to the answer above —
How so many aims, how so many goals?
How so many un-quenched, ever thirsty souls?
What complexity, what a quagmire,
Why do we want, why desire ?What is there that you can take?
Why then put such a precious life at stake?
For wealth and luxury are for a day’s sake,
True bliss and joy, they cannot make.Why then the pretence, why the guile?
Why feign ignorance, every minute every while?
Lets observe ourselves, in a silent talk,
Let’s end the run, and learn to walk.
Thoughts & Reflections 
A wonderfully peaceful walk, with all our relations!
True 🙂
Rat race produces some winner rats and some looser rats, but only rats.
On the flip side, when everyone is being labelled as rats and there is practically nothing you can do about it, i believe its better to be labelled as a winner rat rather than a looser rat.
Why can you not be the rat that actually pulls out, decides his own race (with himself) and excels on that level ground field. The whole idea of following an alien ideology does not fit in well.
Awesomely Portrayed 🙂
Thank u 🙂
Very well put out, straight from your heart! The first step I think to end this mad mind race is to stop comparing with others. We have to realize that every person is unique with multi-dimensions and any metric would be too narrow to measure the wide spectrum that a person is!
very true …..
very true …..