The Fine Line Between Drive and Destruction

I’d like to begin by saying life is not a race. Why do I say this? I say this because everyone has his time in life. Your friends might win today and you’d win tomorrow. And it can even happen that some people never win in life. That’s just how life is and no one can actually question that because not even all our five fingers are equal.

I believe that once you get to finally comprehend and accept that such is life, everything would be easier for you. In todays world, I’ve heard so many people talk about competition and even go on to talk about healthy and unhealthy competition. So I now ask myself where all of this is from. Because personally, I don’t believe in the whole concept of competition be it healthy or unhealthy. From my years of thinking so much and experiencing this thing called competition, I have come or realize that it all someway somehow started with comparison.

I say this because I’ve been there. I once flung myself in a situation where I was questioning myself on the daily basis and this was all because I started to look at other people and compare myself to them. This made me feel we were in a competition and I had to make sure I didn’t lose. Funny enough, I knew I was going down a rocky path. So, I made sure to read books, practice mindfulness and just be me because I came to learn that honestly, no one cares about you or what you do with your life. Everyone just wants to make it in life. And funny enough, there’s not going to be an award ceremony for those who did make it at the end of the day.

From this experience, I just made a mental not to cancel the word competition from my life because it totally makes no sense. I’ve seen how bosses compare their employees thinking that it’s going to boost them to work harder. But all they do is cause rivalry between these individuals because they give them the mindset that someone is out there trying to outrun them. It’s probably a selfish move from employers because that way, they get to have their employees being productive. But if things also go sideways, it’s going to hit really hard.

Moving from the work space, even in our various homes, some parents compare their kids to each other and even their friends. It’s always do you see how this your friend or sister has been able to do this and you haven’t. As a parent, I want to know what those words are meant to do to your kid? Make him do better? Obviously not! You’d have those kids questioning themselves all the time instead of doing better because they’d eventually just give up because after all, their parents would always compare them to others so why bother.

At this point, I might as well say competition isn’t really a sign for growth but for failure. Because once an individual has the mindset that he’s competing with someone, then just know that you’re downplaying yourself to the lowest of the lowest. And to avoid all these, understand and accept that life is not a race, be disciplined, hardworking, do your best and everything will fall in its place.

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all images belong to me.

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