Dear Jimmy,
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| Jimmy the wise donkey |
Life is like a race,
a very long race, maybe we can call it a Marathon Hurdle Race. The first few
years of our life we know nothing about this race. Gradually our parents and
our teachers start preparing us for this race. Some of us take their advice
seriously while others ignore them.
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| Maddymeremortal |
The goals are set partly by the society and partly by the
runners. There are goals which the runners are expected to achieve because of
their family status and standing and there are goals which the runners set
because of their aspirations, dreams and desires. The goals set by the runners
are flexible and can be modified during the race.
The routes of this race are also variable. These can be conventional
or unconventional. In case of
conventional routes the runners are generally honest, God fearing and stick to
the norms of society. They are helpful and caring to the other players in the
race. They share their resources with the needy and help them in crossing their
hurdles. These people are generally happy, calm, contented and believe in
destiny. They do not set unrealistic goals. They are grateful to God for all
the hurdles they cross. They firmly believe that their success was possible only
because of divine intervention. These people are generally very humane, humble,
emotional, kind, considerate and loving. They have high value for human
relationships. They enjoy sharing small moments of happiness and joy with their
family and friends.
Those following the other route are just the reverse. They
believe that they are the authors of their own destiny. They just do not
believe in fate. They are fond of material goods and success or failure in life
is gauged by the amount of material goods owned by a person. They are selfish,
self centred and never at peace. They have no value for human relationships and
strongly feel that everything including friendship is available for a price.
They keep revising their goals. Most of their energy is spent in overtaking
their partners instead of achieving their goals. They are busy showing of their
superiority over the others. They just cannot tolerate being overtaken and
could lose their calm and become violent at that juncture. They are never
contented and keep revising their goals. They sacrifice small moments of joy
and happiness in their futile search for bigger and bigger moments of
achievement and joy.
At the end of the
race which lasts for almost thirty to thirty five years, the winners are those
who have achieved all their goals in spite of the hurdles, those who are happy
with their family and have friends who are willing to stand with them in their
hour of need.
Finally winners are those who with folded hands and eyes
closed with their family say,
"Thank you, God you gave us much more than what we
deserved and what we dreamt of. Please be with us always".