Many of us have dreams and goals in life. We are excited about the potential of achieving more because we all strive for a better quality of life. Many self-help books teach us the importance of goal setting and to become infused with the passion of achieving our dreams. However, we often forget the basics of building a successful life while becoming lost in our passion and excitement of pursuing more. We simply cannot be successful when there is no peace in the way we manage our work and our family life.

Some of us love setting goals and get very busy instantly to achieve them. Sure, we take actions, just like the books tell us, lots of actions, so much so that they made our head spin most of the time. However, in the meanwhile, we often complain and become frustrated with not accomplishing enough. We work hard, but we often feel like we are running fast but not getting where we like to go. Like little hamsters, we become accustomed to our own chase of life. Running crazily, yet not getting where we need to go, we remain disconnected in our own little cage. No wonder we are exhausted. No human being is meant to live a life with this insane speed and also this much unhealthy and counterproductive work that we have tried so hard to perform.

“Maybe if I just work a little longer and faster, my life will be better.” is the illusion that we trap ourselves in. Yes, good work, diligence and tenacity are wonderful values. They should be honored and practiced as we marvel through our journey. However, it is when we take things out of balance, and are driven so much by external pressure as well as our needs for more, we become unhappy.

Unfortunately, our modern society has become increasing fast paced and financial driven. The timeless values of service, taking the time to do things right, and maintaining a balanced and peaceful existence in all we do have been forgotten. As a society, we allow our survival instincts take over how we manage our lives. Our only goal is trying to survive and be better than others in our fast paced, competitive world. In doing so, we stop thriving as human beings. Surviving is not thriving. It is a very dangerous and numbing way of living.


To be continued... Setting Our Own Pace In Life Part 2