Lift your head from work, from whatever you lost yourself in, and look around for a few seconds.
Notice the flavor of your coffee or tea. Maybe you made it a bit stronger than usual today…
Maybe there’s rain outside. Tic tac, tic toc, tic tac, tic toc…
Raindrops seem to form a pattern somewhere, dropping on a neighbor’s roof.
It may even be sunny. Look how brightly the sun reflects on that window in the distance…
Your shoulders and neck are tense. You may have been a bit stressed today. Try to relax those muscles for a moment…
Breathe in, breathe out… Slowly…
Just stop running to take a few seconds to remember to breathe, because…
If You Don’t Stop Running Now When Will You?
Is there a magical finish line that will mean “You won the race!” when you race past it?
Is there anyone who will tell you “Ok, you worked enough. Now you can start living.” someday?
Is there any kind of end to all of this on the horizon?
Or will it just go on as it is now, well, just because?
When will you start actually living? Laughing? Enjoying?
How many things will come and pass by you without you even noticing them while you were busy all the time?
What is all of this effort for, to start with, if not for enjoying life?
Will you pass your entire life running in an endless race with no end?
Life Is Not A Race
There are no magic finish lines.
There are no predefined objectives.
There is no magical authority that will come and reward you in a certain way if you race your life away depending on society’s whims, in pursuit of hoards of wealth or arbitrary career objectives.
The only finish lines and objectives that exist are the ones that you define.
What’s more, the only rewards are what you feel to be worth receiving.
You can stop mindlessly racing forward like a rat in a rat race and start walking forward while enjoying the scenery.
You can move forward towards the finish lines and rewards that you define and still enjoy your life instead of running around in anxiety.
You can live your life on your own terms instead of indenturing yourself to the ever-changing whims of society.
Change your life today.
Define your own objectives, your finish lines, your rewards.
Define an enjoyable pace for walking forward with which you can accomplish those objectives and get those rewards.
Start living your life without losing sight of its enjoyable scenery without letting anything going past you unnoticed. Catch the great moments and little and big joys of life even as you walk forward.
Make your life a pleasant walk instead of an anxious race.