Trapped in the Rat Race of Life

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Abstract

ack, we, intentionally or not, presuppose our current life situation as being less than what we hope for it to be. We tell ourselves that, if only I get that job, make 6 figures, buy that house, <i>then</i> I’ll be satisfied. Unfortunately, that’s not what happens.</p><p id="199c">We meet these goals we have set for ourselves only to find ourselves craving for more. We lose sight of what we already have. We fail to recognize and appreciate that which we we once thought would bring us endless joy. As to why this happens? Well, let’s see.</p><h2 id="6312">1. We do it to keep up with the Joneses.</h2><p id="415d">One of the worse things about social media, I’d say, is this constant, undying tendency to compare ourselves to others. We begin to desire that which those in our social circle, in our age group have come to possess. We find ourselves with a lack so we do everything to fill it. Even if it means buying that house we definitely can’t afford or that luxury car we know is just for show, we slowly fool ourselves into thinking, <i>“this is what I want.”</i> Yet, beneath that shiny car exterior, or those pristine marble countertops, lies a life of misery. More precisely, a life of misery we have chosen for ourselves.</p><h2 id="4d3b">2. We get carried away by people’s expectations for us.</h2><p id="5a30">Similar to the point above, too many of us in life do things that we believe will make others proud. We strive to make our parents happy. We want to feel accepted by ou

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r friends. And we’re willing to sacrifice our own passions and preferences in doing so. What I’d like to add here is that anytime we are running around trying to meet people’s erroneous expectations for us, we’re not valuing ourselves.</p><h2 id="720c">3. We have a rigid perception of how life should go.</h2><p id="4ce5">This point has a lot to do with control. In life, even when we think we’re in control, we’re most definitely not. Trying desperately to tread on a path that we believe is traditional or ‘the norm’ tends to lead us astray. We become so set on doing things in a particular order, in a particular sequence, that we fail to open ourselves up to life in the moment. A moment that, mind you, we will never have again. Hence, a moment that we should cherish rather than lose forever based on our myopic focus on the future.</p><p id="3119">Having said all of this, I know trying to get ourselves out of this mindset of controlling our life is difficult.</p><p id="9fa9">We all have some type of aspirations for our life, but forcing a particular path for our lives kills the spontaneity of life and all of those little moments of joy that make our lives worth living.</p><p id="798c">Instead, I encourage anyone and everyone to stay open to what their life can be. While we often believe we know what’s best for us, life has a way of showing us that, perhaps, we may not always know what we want until we get it. And that’s just the beauty of life, isn’t it?</p></article></body>

And losing ourselves in the midst of it

Life’s a race, or so it seems to be. A race to start a meaningful career. A race to find love. A race to have it all, really. Adrenaline coursing, we aim for that new promotion, that fancy house with a picket white fence, all the while thinking that this is all life is. But, I’m here to argue just the contrary.

Now, let me preface this by saying, I admit to being part of this rat race of life at one point in my life. In fact, I relished the idea of accomplishing all my personal and career goals as soon as possible. I thought that this was the only way to go about life. After all, why wait, right? Life is short, anyway, and, hey, the faster the better, right? Wrong.

While we’re out there chasing that 9-to-5 job believing it’s the key to our freedom, financially at least, we’re losing ourselves. “Losing ourselves to what?”, you may wonder.

Well, anytime we do things out of lack, we, intentionally or not, presuppose our current life situation as being less than what we hope for it to be. We tell ourselves that, if only I get that job, make 6 figures, buy that house, then I’ll be satisfied. Unfortunately, that’s not what happens.

We meet these goals we have set for ourselves only to find ourselves craving for more. We lose sight of what we already have. We fail to recognize and appreciate that which we we once thought would bring us endless joy. As to why this happens? Well, let’s see.

1. We do it to keep up with the Joneses.

One of the worse things about social media, I’d say, is this constant, undying tendency to compare ourselves to others. We begin to desire that which those in our social circle, in our age group have come to possess. We find ourselves with a lack so we do everything to fill it. Even if it means buying that house we definitely can’t afford or that luxury car we know is just for show, we slowly fool ourselves into thinking, “this is what I want.” Yet, beneath that shiny car exterior, or those pristine marble countertops, lies a life of misery. More precisely, a life of misery we have chosen for ourselves.

2. We get carried away by people’s expectations for us.

Similar to the point above, too many of us in life do things that we believe will make others proud. We strive to make our parents happy. We want to feel accepted by our friends. And we’re willing to sacrifice our own passions and preferences in doing so. What I’d like to add here is that anytime we are running around trying to meet people’s erroneous expectations for us, we’re not valuing ourselves.

3. We have a rigid perception of how life should go.

This point has a lot to do with control. In life, even when we think we’re in control, we’re most definitely not. Trying desperately to tread on a path that we believe is traditional or ‘the norm’ tends to lead us astray. We become so set on doing things in a particular order, in a particular sequence, that we fail to open ourselves up to life in the moment. A moment that, mind you, we will never have again. Hence, a moment that we should cherish rather than lose forever based on our myopic focus on the future.

Having said all of this, I know trying to get ourselves out of this mindset of controlling our life is difficult.

We all have some type of aspirations for our life, but forcing a particular path for our lives kills the spontaneity of life and all of those little moments of joy that make our lives worth living.

Instead, I encourage anyone and everyone to stay open to what their life can be. While we often believe we know what’s best for us, life has a way of showing us that, perhaps, we may not always know what we want until we get it. And that’s just the beauty of life, isn’t it?