The Rat Race

What follows was sent to me by a close friend – and I thought it so profound that I want to share it with you. Maybe you have seen this, or maybe not. Point is, it follows on what we discussed yesterday – about never doing or speaking or acting. Quite frankly, we have lost the beauty of our spontaneous nature – we are all caught up in the survival race.

The survival race compels us to view life with blinkers – focusing only on that which Kant calls “duty” in his definition of morals. Thing is, even though he does distinguish between the differing meanings and philosophies of the word “duty” – he never ever defines “duty” as something which we owe to ourselves – it is simply a metaphysical term used to define our value systems viz a viz our societal encumbance.

Duty is confused with service to others, our jobs and our daily grinding. But what about ourselves? What about duty to the Self? To live a fulfilling life that has meaning. Have we become so stooped in our own personal little world of “duty” that we have forgotten the Self?

I think we need to re-think our own modus operandi. So read on, and you decide for yourself if this is what you want to be or not. How you want to live or not.

It has certainly opened my eyes. Let us go and climb a mountain, sit at the top, and view ourselves from that perspective – the rat race below. And then decide if we still resonate with this self-induced breeding of discomfort and personal self sabotage.

To me it is akin to self-prostitution. Harsh words, but it makes sense to my encultured mind, which in itself is trying to break free from millennia of doctrines that are limiting.

Enjoy. And as always, much Love and Light


“Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because People cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to...not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask 'How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow' and in your haste, not see her sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi'? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift ... thrown away.

Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.”

Amen to that!