We spend a great portion of our lives feeling like we’re behind.
There are infinite races occurring all at once. A race to be the healthiest, a race to be the funniest, a race to be an expert in X, Y, or Z. A race to be the best father or mother or daughter or son. A race to be the best marketer or accountant or dentist.
Everywhere we turn, there is someone telling us that we are behind and that we need to catch up. If only you take this course or start this diet or read this book, then you will be caught up.
But the truth is that there is no catching up. Because there’s no way that you can be the best in every race. In reality, you can’t even be the best in one race. There will always be someone better, even if you are the best in the world. Because biology evolves, technology evolves, everything evolves. Eventually, someday, you will be second-rate.
Yet we still try anyway. We still feel that it is our noble cause to be the best, even if it is only for ourselves. And in a way, it is noble. Something to be proud of.
We compete against ourselves, or rather, the person who we were yesterday or last week. We tell ourselves, I lost 1 pound this week. I completed this course or got this certificate. I got this promotion or raise.
And we did. And we’re proud of it. And we’re happy. For a moment.
But then we realize that there’s still 17 people standing between you and the CEO in the hierarchical structure of your company and Sandy, Amy, Jenny, and Sarah all weigh at least 20-30 pounds less than you and that you only have 567 followers but your cousin Tim who has always been a complete idiot has somehow amassed 153,000 followers and secured a brand deal with some drum cymbal company because he’s in a band that wrote one good song 4 years ago.
We jump from place #1,675,348 to #1,675,347 in one race, but our attention on that race means that we neglected another race, and we dropped five spots in the other race.
And so it goes. The constant comparison, the constant feeling of being left behind. Some people will spend their entire lives worrying about these races, stewing in a cauldron of insecurity and disappointment.
Yet a few lucky ones, with enough determination, will ignore their standings in the races, and just be. They’ll forget it all.
Because in the end, we’re all sprinting to the same finish line anyway.
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We spend a great portion of our lives feeling like we’re behind.
There are infinite races occurring all at once. A race to be the healthiest, a race to be the funniest, a race to be an expert in X, Y, or Z. A race to be the best father or mother or daughter or son. A race to be the best marketer or accountant or dentist.
Everywhere we turn, there is someone telling us that we are behind and that we need to catch up. If only you take this course or start this diet or read this book, then you will be caught up.
But the truth is that there is no catching up. Because there’s no way that you can be the best in every race. In reality, you can’t even be the best in one race. There will always be someone better, even if you are the best in the world. Because biology evolves, technology evolves, everything evolves. Eventually, someday, you will be second-rate.
Yet we still try anyway. We still feel that it is our noble cause to be the best, even if it is only for ourselves. And in a way, it is noble. Something to be proud of.
We compete against ourselves, or rather, the person who we were yesterday or last week. We tell ourselves, I lost 1 pound this week. I completed this course or got this certificate. I got this promotion or raise.
And we did. And we’re proud of it. And we’re happy. For a moment.
But then we realize that there’s still 17 people standing between you and the CEO in the hierarchical structure of your company and Sandy, Amy, Jenny, and Sarah all weigh at least 20-30 pounds less than you and that you only have 567 followers but your cousin Tim who has always been a complete idiot has somehow amassed 153,000 followers and secured a brand deal with some drum cymbal company because he’s in a band that wrote one good song 4 years ago.
We jump from place #1,675,348 to #1,675,347 in one race, but our attention on that race means that we neglected another race, and we dropped five spots in the other race.
And so it goes. The constant comparison, the constant feeling of being left behind. Some people will spend their entire lives worrying about these races, stewing in a cauldron of insecurity and disappointment.
Yet a few lucky ones, with enough determination, will ignore their standings in the races, and just be. They’ll forget it all.
Because in the end, we’re all sprinting to the same finish line anyway.
