How to Stop Being a Rat and Still Win the Race

I am a great fan of Paulo Coelho and his latest book, “The winner stands alone” has only made me respect him more. Mr.Coelho has managed to beautifully bring to the fore the issue that faces most of us today; the inevitable participation in the rat race. Many of us will try to be vain and will reject the concept of the rat race outright. But I would request them to stop, take a deep breath and look slowly around. What do you see? Who are the people who surround you? The modern worker spends most of his life in one of the marvels of modern times-the cubicle. The cubicle is a wonderful mechanism which is capable of giving you the false sense of security and well being while killing you slowly at the same time. When my boss suffered a heart attack at the age of 35, I knew which path I shouldn’t take. It was time to come out of my cubby hole of a cubicle and stop being a rat.

1. Be satisfied:

“Satisfaction is the death of desire.” So said Manish, my best friend. And I believed every single word of it until the day realization dawned. Desire can never be satiated. It stays forever. You can never quantify how much of what you want. The first thing to do is to get out of the rat race. Defy the system and be satisfied. There have been others who have refused to run and the world has dubbed them saints. I simply call them wise men; people who are free. Having been conditioned to always set impossible goals and always chasing dreams, breaking away takes time. But hang in there. Learn to be satisfied. Be happy.

2. Concentrate on a hobby:

If you can’t get your mind away from the race, try to concentrate on something you like to do, a hobby for example. Hobbies are like catalysts help in accelerating the transition. Gardening is an interesting exercise, painting on the other hand is an excellent stress buster and writing is reliving your fantasies. A hobby will give you the pleasure of winning at something you are good at instead of running with rats.

3. Meditate:

Meditation is an interesting phenomenon. Though it seems improbable, fifteen minutes of peace in the morning will change your life over a period of months. While you are at it, concentrate on being what you want to be. The change you will experience will be dramatic. Meditation is like the blue pill that is offered to Neo when Morpheus offers him freedom. Meditation will purify your body, cleanse your soul and will get you working on being a better person.

4. Smile:

A smile is a reflection of inner happiness. Wear it all times. A slight smile will not only radiate your happiness but also fool your mind to think you are happy. Seems improbable? Well, try it. A frown not only looks bad on the face but also emanates negative vibes. A smile is the window to happiness.

5. Fall in love:

Love is a wonderful feeling. Just when you feel like you have decoded it, love will spring you a surprise and you will be left red-faced. Best experienced and least explained, hate’s enemy will keep you so engaged in itself that you will hardly be left with time for anything, leave alone a race. Especially when the race features some star rats.

In a world run on peer pressure, we inhabitants often forget that each one of us is an individual first and one of everyone later. Envy, jealousy and pride have become more natural feelings than compassion, love and brotherhood. People will trip fellow travelers; they will distract them, push them or even injure them, all for winning the race. We get so busy running and trying to win that we forget to look inside our pockets. Inside our pocket is the blue pill, the pill to freedom with a note from Morpheus, “