Day 26: The Competition of Life
We’ve already talked about what I feel when I think about the idea of life, but what is it that sends people over the edge and into crazytown? Competition. Everything in our lives has come down to some scheme of betterment in which we can only give our best shot at utter defeat. There is no “perfect life” and there is no life without some kind of competition. We compete with our bills, will we pay them first, or will they shut us off? We compete with our co-workers, who will make the bigger bonus? We compete with our families, who are we most proud of? We compete with ourselves, I can do better. What we are forgetting in this competition is that we do not have to play the game that is put before us. We can accept the life we lead. There will always be something in our paths that gets us down but we do not dwell on it. We can always find a way to be who we choose to be. The competition of life is a struggle that we do not have to live.
I am concerned about how far a person will go to “stand out”. I am concerned that individuality is no longer the goal. Why is being yourself a competition? What do you win? Why is this attitude so important for a person’s growth? I feel that setting yourself apart and declaring what you want is a fantastic way to individualize yourself but when you start to want to be “better” than everything around you, it makes your world less about you and more about what others think of you. It makes everything you worry about become focused on someone or something else. Life is too short to worry about who has the most expensive stuff or who is the most “successful”. Life should be about focusing on yourself, getting where you want to go. If a person wants nothing more than to be a manager at a fast-food restaurant, and they make it, they are just as successful as a CEO who wanted to be a CEO. They successfully reached their goal. It does not mean they have to stop there, but it also does not undervalue them either. More often it is the things that money can’t buy like loyalty, trust and love that are most valuable but in this world’s competitions in style, face-value items and wealth, all these priceless aspects fall short.
Too often I hear “this is better than that” and “this is a piece of crap”. This world is not in existence to please the small-minded. It is vast and exciting. How many times a week have you actually seen the stars, shining in the sky? How many times have you appreciated those days when it was not cloudy, or windy, or cold? How often do you walk down a street with a completely blank mind, letting your will take you on an adventure? If you say anything less than very often, you may be in the wrong business. Life, for people, is a journey. Infancy to childhood, childhood to teen, teen to adult and so on. It is YOUR journey and there are no rules in this competition. You were already born the best, that is why you exist. You don’t have to be better than yourself. I believe that one of the greatest stress inducers I have ever encountered is money. There is always a competition for money. The interview process, the annual profit, the taxes, it all is a competition of greed. Our society has pushed this image of “normal” on us and raised our expectations in life. We no longer approve of living within our means. We all wish we could win the lottery, we all wish we could do certain things that we feel we will never achieve. In doing so, we all forget who we are. We are not bound by the rules of society. We are only bound by the limits of our heart, the strength of our will, and the depths of our imagination. I am who I am on purpose. You are who you are on purpose. Accept the life you lead and live it proudly. If we remain chained to negativity we will never push our limits. Fore-go this competition and create your own destiny.
