I love to observe life, in all its nuances. When I go about observing people, I see one common pattern, inevitably.
Everbody is under pressure.
A TIME-BOUND MORNING
We set an alarm and wake up at a certain time in the morning. Our morning routine is generally set in a way that there is no leeway for anything that’s not a part of the plan. Say I have reserved 30 min for my morning walk but I happen to bump into a friend and my walk is extended by another 30 min.
I am feeling the pinch every extra minute I am spending. It’s another thing that I cant resist the pleasurable chat. This overshoot is going to make things really troublesome. Not just for myself but also for my family. After all, all our schedules are interlinked.
A PAINFUL COMMUTE
It is my own small rule that I leave for work at a definite time lest I will find irritating traffic on the road or might get late to punch in at office. The traffic is generally so much that I drive bumper to bumper. Since I am 30 min late, now I require to cut corners to reach my workplace as soon as you can.
A TIGHT DAY AT THE OFFICE
At office, I have long hours to toil, deadlines to honor and targets to meet. Every minute in the office is important. My time management radar is constantly on. I have been told that that all success is about how wisely I use my time, which is a scarce and non-renewable commodity. I can’t afford to vile away a few minutes in chatting up with a colleague without any particular agenda. I have tasks to complete and unless I complete what I have to do today, things will only pile up to make tomorrow yet more overwhelming.
CHARLES DARWIN AT WORK
I am generally busy attending to my tasks at a frantic pace. My personal targets and my boss together keep me always on my toes. My whole workplace is designed to prove Charles Darwin right – unless I perform, I will be outsmarted. With survival at stake, my reptilian brain wouldn’t let me rest.
MY LOVE FOR LUXURY
My sense of greed and my love for luxury add to the already complex equation. My demands from life are too many. And so are those of my family. These desires weigh me down, thanks to the pressure they put on my already leaking pockets.
I buy myself and my family a wonderful home. It’s another thing that I have bought it on loan. I have a swanky car with mortgages to be paid off across a seemingly relaxed decade. All these EMI’s loom over my head every waking minute, consciously or subconsciously. As a bread-earner of the family, the last thing I can afford in this scenario is to fall ill or develop a lifestyle disease that can knock my wicket down in the middle of a good night’s sleep.
BENCH-MARKING TO THE BEST
My social life that’s supposed to be the bulwark of support doesn’t help me either. Rather it makes things worse. I benchmark my income to that of one of my wealthier friends though I know that this can possibly put me on a treadmill for a big part of my life. If not me, my spouse makes this mistake. My kids are not impervious either.
I send my kids to one of the best schools in the locality as if I don’t know that the so-called best school also obviously houses the kids of the rich and famous. My older one picks up the cue that it is less cool to go on a holiday to the Ganges than to go for a skiing expedition to Switzerland. He throws a tantrum for an exotic holiday abroad that an understanding parent like me can’t object to.
THE INESCAPABLE TREADMILL
A loving parent that I am, I do not want my child to feel any less than his more pompous friends. Now I toil harder and harder not because I have a vision or a mission for my work but to match up to the last holiday destination of some ten-year old, son of some rich gentleman from my locality whom I have never met nor expect to meet.
All this and much more puts me on a treadmill that I so avidly despised in adults as a teenager. This is what I have made of this gift of life. Is this my individual fate as a human being and our collective fate as a society? Was I born to live this sort of life? Am I on this planet to be and enjoy or to simply run around under pressure?
These are questions we all should ask ourselves and ask each other. Most of us do not happen to see that our life is miserable simply because we have adapted to the misery a bit too well, which is very unfortunate. The first step towards getting the answer is to acknowledge the misery for what it is. The subsequent steps will emerge from that.
Bhaavin so true. However each one of us wants to aim high and dream big. Why settle for less when u can have it all. Its just the question of balancing each area of your life without any one area getting too heavy.
Great Article. It points out quite vividly the internal and external pressures which lead you to run on a treadmill.