Life is not a competition, but it often sure feels that way. And, when it does, we rarely feel like we are winning. Usually, it seems like we are all trailing behind while everyone else is getting promotions, traveling across Europe, marrying each other, and succeeding in life in every way. However, there are no winners and losers in life, and there is no really such a thing as being behind in life. How? Let’s take a look.
First, Each person is on their own path
Life is not a competition because each person is on their own path. You can’t measure the success of different people by the same bar, because they have different goals, means, starting points, and situations.
A monk is successful in a way that a CEO is not. Being a CEO means being successful in a way society values and understands, but nobody can say that the person who is a general director is happier or living better than the monk.
People start from different points, so their rhythm and progress will also vary significantly. There is no easy comparison between two people.
Second, Comparing yourself is not useful
Perhaps the above idea is not very convincing. But even if you feel that people can be compared between each other, it’s not really very useful. As mentioned, people have different starting points, so some need to walk twice the distance to get to the same place. But that’s not the only factor that matters.
“You are not required to perform like them, you are required to perform like you.”
You have a different body and a different health situation than another person. You have other likes and dislikes. Furthermore, you have different energy levels. Saying that someone else can do something doesn’t help you discover whether you can also do the same thing. It becomes something that makes you feel bad but, often, there are too many differences between people for a comparison to be useful. However, a comparison is a sure way to make yourself feel bad.
Third, You can’t really win at life
You can tell when someone is behind by how far from their goal they are in comparison to others after the same goal. You can tell who is losing a race. But life is not really a race. Each person sets their own objectives, and even those who are after similar things are on their own paths.
Some people might be successful in a specific way: maybe they have money or popularity. But this doesn’t mean that they have achieved all that they wanted or that they feel as happy or thrilled as they look. They can be even further away from their goals, despite of how situations appear on the surface.
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
You can’t win because everyone is on their path, so there is no real way to determine who is ahead. And even superficial markers of success might not reflect what’s truly going on in a person’s life and how close they are to their goals. Further, those who are close to them are not necessarily competing with those still starting on their journey.
Fourth, You tend to be harsh when judging yourself
Another important thing to consider is that it’s not easy to gauge one’s progress while inside the situation. We tend to be quite severe when judging our own progress.
It’s likely that what you see as being behind might be envied by others. We tend to feel that our own achievements are less great than those of the people around us, but this is a common bias in thinking. We might see ourselves as being behind.
Fifth, Life doesn’t stop
Another important thing is that life always offers the opportunity to catch up and try again. There are very few things that can never be achieved after some point, at least, in some shape or form.
“Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
While we are alive, life keeps going, and so do we. Giving up is the only thing that can truly set us behind, otherwise, we can keep trying and get to where we want to go.
