HE looks so peaceful! is often what we hear when we go to pay our past respects at a funeral! Quite often after hearing those words, I wonder what he or she looked like when they were alive: Harried, worried, tense?
I was cycling and noticed a person in front of me, about 1/4 of Km ahead. I could tell he was cycling a little slower than me and decided to try to catch him. I had about a km to go on the road before turning off.
So I started cycling faster and faster and every block, I was gaining on him just a little bit. After just a few minutes I was only about 100 yards behind him, so I really picked up the pace and pushed myself. You would have thought I was cycling in the last leg of the Olympics.
Finally, I caught up with him and passed him by. On the inside I felt so good. “I beat him” of course, but he didn’t even know we were racing. After I passed him, I realized that I had been so focused on competing against him that I had missed my turn, had gone nearly six blocks past it and had to turn around and go all back.
Isn’t that what happens in life when we focus on competing with co-workers, neighbours, friends, family, trying to outdo them or trying to prove that we are more successful or more important? We spend our time and energy running after them and we miss out on our own paths to our destinies.
The problem with unhealthy competition is that it’s a never ending cycle. There will always be somebody ahead of you, someone with better job, nicer car, more money in the bank, more education, a prettier wife, a more handsome husband, better behaved children, etc. Take what Life has given you, the height, weight & personality. Dress well & wear it proudly! You’ll be blessed by it. Stay focused and live a healthy life. Run your own race and wish others well.
Now, isn’t this typical of all of us? We race the people ahead of us, pushing ourselves into a frenzy, working ourselves into a heat: We land up with aching bodies and angioplasties, ulcers and near death situations. Do we need to die before people feel we look peaceful at last? Work your own pace..!
